The Many Perks of Camelot High
by anfiasco
Summary: Highschool AU, Merthur. Merlin has just arrived at a new school, at the start of senior year. And already, he's gotten into trouble with the big guy on campus; Arthur Pendragon. Will their bad start turn into a deeper friendship? [Still updating, usually 2000-4000 words a chap]
1. Enter Merlin, Stage Right

**A/N: Hey first fanfic ive published heeere so: HI THERE! This is a highschool AU (an AU i absolutely adore) for Merlin and Arthur. Rated for a shit ton of swearing and sexual thoughts.  
****I'll be updating this maybe every couple weeks. I write a draft on my MP3 and then type it on my lappy. Feedback (no matter if its loves or 'fuck this shit im out') is always welcome :)**

"Get the hell OFF me, you prat!" The boy under me kicked his feet, glaring angrily. He obviously didn't care what everyone else thought, because they were all staring at us with wide eyes.

_What is Arthur Pendragon _doing_? What did that kid do to deserve being tackled by Arthur _PENDRAGON_?_ They all thought. Being in the hot spotlight wasn't new for me.

"Say sorry then, you fucking idiot!" I hissed. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Oh, so you can shove other people around whenever you want? I don't think so." The dark haired brat scoffed.

He MUST be new around here. It was all this kid's fault, of course. I was pushing some freshman around, I don't know his name. I just know he's not one of US, so he doesn't deserve the respect of a rat. Then this bitch – obviously new to the grounds – tries to fucking tell me off. ME.

"You idiot, I can do whatever I want around here. " I leaned close to his face. The kid was about to snap back at me, but I cut him off. "That's how it is. I'm Arthur PENDRAGON. Let me repeat; I can do whatever I want. Whenever. I want." I expected him to act surprised. Scared, even better.

Instead, he spat in my face.

"Fuck—!" I released him, wiping my face with an expensive sleeve. DISGUSTING.

"Exactly, you prat. Fuck you. Your last name doesn't concern me." He said, with a triumphant grin. The kid shoved me off of him, scrambling clumsily to his feet. He turned quickly to run, but Leon grabbed him from behind before he could escape. Good.

I turned to face the pale, dark haired kid, my eyes daggers. The boy stared back with defiant ones, probably angrier than mine looked. He struggled against Lancelot's steel hold, never breaking eye contact.

I actually respected him for that. Most students would cower and stay out of my way. If they ever got involved with us, I would always be right. Not this one, though. It was the first day of senior year, and this one had already picked a fight with the wrong person. What's more, he wasn't backing down.

Taking my time to study him for the first time, I noticed how young he looked for a senior. He wore a dark blue hoodie, ratted jeans. His hair was combed as a mother would comb their child's hair on their first day of school. He looked as if he wanted to make a good first impression. Too late for that.

I contemplated whether to punch him, kick him, or simply get a teacher to give this kid a month worth of detentions.

"You're quite a kid, you know that?" I mused, my eyes never leaving his.

"Arthur? I don't want to wait forever here." Leon grumbled, still holding the boy tightly. I ignored him, and focused my attention on my fascinating new plaything.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"It certainly isn't 'Prat-who-acts-like-a-spoiled-blonde-princess'." He snarled, yanking his arm to no avail.

"You certainly like to use the word 'prat' a lot." I murmured. "Look, I'm trying to be nice here. You're the one who told me to 'shove my attitude up my ass'." I said calmly. I had the upper hand now, no need to be hasty.

"Merlin."

"What?"

"Merlin, my name's Merlin. Now let me go." He said, softly. He looked like he was finally out of juice.

"So, MERlin." I drew out his name, which seemed to annoy him. "Have anything else to say?"

"Leon, would you please release the new student?" a deep voice said behind me.

Uh oh.

Merlin pulled sharply away from Leon, who backed off. He didn't look surprised. Neither did Merlin; they must have seen him coming.

"Mister Emrys? Pendragon? Will you please join me in my office." The principal looked us over with deadpan eyes. He was always hard to read…except when he was angry _furious_.

"Um, yes, Principal Uther." Merlin glanced at me with frustrated eyes. Because of our combined efforts (his being that he was an idiot, mine being self-defense), we'd both gotten into trouble on the first day of school.

Well, HE had, at least. I was always in trouble.

"Yes, dad." I said, nearly inaudibly.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

We sat in chairs, avoiding each other's eyes, facing my father – our principal. He glared at me especially, marking me as the cause of his misfortune. But I wasn't. Not really. I was taking my "attitude" lessons from a certain someone: I was acting like HE always was, at any rate. Stubborn, stuck-up, and douchy. There. I said it. I had been acting douchy.

It's too late for me, now, though. This is me.

Practice what you preach, father, and don't punish the practicers. I steamed inside, knowing he was a bad influence from the start. Merlin didn't know his true side, yet.

"Merlin, I'm sorry for you to experience that behavior so early in your school year here." He started, lacing his fingers together with a tight grimace. "I assure you the school isn't normally that hostile."

Lie. And you never do anything to stop it, either.

"As principal, I will make sure your life here will be an enjoyable as well as an educational one."

That's what you always say.

"Thank you, sir," Merlin said with a small smile. He glanced over to see me glaring. I wasn't angry at HIM, though, I don't know if Merlin knew.

"In order to make sure you stay in good shape here, I will be assigning an escort to show you around. To make sure you know where to go, and in case you need any help," Uther continued.

"Oh, really? Who?" this sparked Merlin's interest and he broke our staring contest to look quickly at my father.

"Arthur will be your escort." I stiffened, recognizing my name. Then I remembered that there were many Arthurs in the school, obviously. It could be anyone. It certainly wasn't me.

"Uh?" Merlin looked nervous. 'Not him!" his expression screamed.

"In-"

"Arthur Mellis, of course." I cut in hastily. "He's not a senior, he's in 11th."

Father scowled at me.

"No. Arthur Pendragon. He's the one sitting next to you, Mr. Emrys, if you haven't yet been properly introduced," Uther hissed. He ground his fists into the desk, and I flinched involuntarily.

"Uh, are you sure, sir? I'd rather not—" Merlin asked nervously.

BANG. Uther hammered his hands on the desk.

"You question my authority, Mr. Emrys? I SAID you were to be escorted by Arthur." His voice was sickeningly calm. Merlin looked shocked. Kind of scared. It pained me. I felt terrible for him, but then I remembered he was the enemy.

I snickered softly. Tsk tsk, Merlin. Rule one, don't anger the principal.

"U-yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir." Merlin said, his voice losing no confidence.

"Good. Now get out, both of you." Uther growled.

We shuffled out of our chairs, wincing at the groans of the wooden floor.

I felt my father's stare on my back as we exited.

Bastard.

I slammed the door hard behind us, muttering.

"Stupid…cunt…" I kicked the row of lockers to my left. Merlin watched with amusement as I hopped on one foot, immediately regretting my action.

"Calling your father a cunt. Real mature." I only groaned in response, pain ebbing through my right foot.

"So, you're my guide." Merlin raised his eyebrows, unfazed by the occurrence in the office. "YOU."

"Don't YOU bitch about it, I should be the one." I snapped angrily, leaning on the old lockers to rub my toes. Merlin sighed, content with my frustration.

"I guess this is your punishment, then. Having to be friends with an insignificant worm like me." He seemed almost happy stating that comment.

"Look, idiot. We're never going to be friends. EVER." I said stonily. Merlin held back a laugh. I limped along, the kid walking slowly with me to our first class of senior year. History.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The week was rough with Merlin tagging around. On a usual day, I would have gotten rid of the squirt by now. But father had started peeking into our classes, making sure I kept through my punishment. Or maybe it was something special about Merlin; maybe he was from some wealthy rich family. I don't know why he was here, then.

"So when squaring the sine of C…" I yawned, not paying attention to the professor. We were in fourth period at this point, it's not like anyone was. No one ever cared, actually, no matter the period, because we didn't have to. In order to please the district superintendents, Uther sent out fake scores for the entire school. It didn't matter if we actually learned anything. My father's reputation… where could I START. Instead, I'll leave it blank.

I looked over to Merlin, who obviously hadn't gotten the memo. He was biting the top of his eraser, face filled with concentration. I blinked, resisting the urge to whisper "you actually understand this?" in his ear. I refrained, instead studying his face.

Wow. He's actually kinda cute.

How long had I been staring?

Who cares…

His cheek bones were fairly high set, giving his face an angled, yet youthful look. His eyes were dark blue, and made a perfect combination coupled with his dark hair and pale skin.

Pencils should be cocks, too. That kid was sucking on his No. 2 like his life depended on it.

"Mr. Pendragon, care to explain this answer to the class?"

…FUCK.

What? What question? I scanned the messy whiteboard quickly, trying to make some sense of the situation.

"Um…which one?" I asked quietly. The professor rolled his eyes, pointing halfheartedly to a problem written in green pen.

I still had no fucking idea.

"0.879."

"Uh… 0.879?" I gulped.

"Correct?" the professor looked dumbfounded. "And… why is it four square root three?" he pressed.

"Tan is sin squared plus cosine squared." Merlin whispered.

The teacher didn't notice because he was leaning back in his chair, acting like he was stretching. I blushed, but shook it off.

"The sine sqared plus the cosine squared is the tangent. Simple." I repeated swiftly, with a smug grin. The teacher nodded eagerly.

"Good. Very good, Pendragon." He turned back to the board to continue.

"Like Arthur said, the hypotenuse…"

Everyone was spaced out again—exception of a dark haired student—within the next minute. His eyes were still trained on the teacher, studying every line he wrote. It was pretty sexy.

"Thanks for, uh…" I started, trying to get Merlin's attention. I received very little. "…helping me, Merlin."

"Don't mention it." He mumbled, his tongue flicking out across the pencil top. He had to be doing that on purpose. God, he had to be. A smirk formed at the left side of my mouth.

"Can you…" …put that mouth to good use?

Merlin only heard the first part, and looked at me quizzically.

"Uh… "I thought hard, trying to think of an ending to my sentence. "…can you tutor me? After school? I mean, you actually know the stuff, and I'm supposed to be your escort anyways, so. Yeah." Good enough.

"Are you seriously asking ME to tutor you?" Merlin suppressed a snort. "Have you already forgotten this morning, dollophead?"

Pfft. That was five hours ago. I had already gone from not knowing Merlin, to hating him, to wanting his mouth around my cock. Change subject, change subject, change…change…

"At least I know "dollophead" isn't a word." I said softly, as to not call attention to us. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Fine." He whispered, smiling. "Does this mean were…"

"No, I'm still your superior." I scoffed, raising my eyebrows. That meant I was topping.

DAMN.

STOP.

THINKING ABOUT THAT.

"Of cooourse." Merlin whispered, rolling his eyes. "But I won't be one of your playthings. I'm not that stupid." He smirked.

No you don't, brain.

Merlin frowned, suddenly, his eyes going wide. A huge blush spread over his cheeks.

No, brain. Don't go down that path.

"I-I didn't mean that sexually, of course!" he choked out a little too loud.

"STOP TALKING." The professor shouted, not turning away from the whiteboard he was stationed at.

Merlin and I exchanged nervous glances, as the rest of the class wondered who that dark haired kid sitting next to Arthur Pendragon was. Merlin paid no attention, a little smirk playing over his features.

I returned the grin, pointing at the professor and making a face. My new friend giggled, finally turning his attention back to the teacher.

Good start.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The rest of the day, I ignored my friends, who asked who the hell this boy was. Only Lance knew that I had to escort Merlin around, because of this morning. And even Lance didn't know my impending crush on the weak kid. So I had to avoid conversation with everyone, with at most a "not right now, I'll explain later".

Merlin seemed to be quite the smart one. But in a cute way. He knew the answers, but didn't raise his hand and shout "Me! Me! Me!". He told me he wanted to be a doctor, so he HAD to be smart. Had to get the right answers, had to receive the best grades to get into a medical college.

I still didn't know what I wanted to be. That made me self-conscious. Merlin really made me feel…different than I had ever felt before.

And soon, it was the end of the day. I was supposed to go to football practice, where I finally had to answer to my friends.

"Merlin." I said tentatively to the boy who had followed me to my locker. "Do you know where your locker is?" He blushed in embarrassment, shaking his head "no".

"I don't think they gave me one." He replied, shuffling his feet.

I sighed, opening my locker wider.

"You can use mine." Merlin opened his mouth to protest. "No, really, it's fine. Uther would be furious if I didn't help you out." I said with a small smile. I reached into my binder, pulling out a scrap piece of paper. Quickly scribbling down the numbers 30-46-11, and #450, I handed it to Merlin. "Don't lose this."

He nodded, taking the scrap, slipping it gingerly into his jacket pocket.

I stepped aside, allowing Merlin to place his books in the bottom half of the locker. He got on his knees, delicately arranging his supplies.

He was seriously beautiful. I could see him on those skinny knees in front of me.

I had fallen for him in a single day.

I mussed his hair absently, making him look up curiously. I leaned against locker #451, smiling. Merlin let out a huff of air, raising an eyebrow. He turned back to his supplies.

He is just. So perfect.

I cleared my thoughts, remembering something I had been meaning to ask.

"I didn't hurt you, did I? This morning." I said suddenly. Merlin frowned, thinking back to the incident.

"No, I'm good. It's… I'm fine."

"Not that I care. I don't care." I added quickly, scratching the back of my head. Merlin laughed, standing up.

"Of course." He shut my locker, turning back to me again. "Are you doing anything after school?" he asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I flushed, looking away.

"Why?" I shoved my hands in my pockets too. Ew, gum.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, confused by my blush. "I'm tutoring you, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I have football practice today… maybe Wednesday?" I said, guiltily. Had he stuck around for me?

"I can stick around for you." Merlin said on cue, giving a shy smile. "I don't have anything."

"Oh, no, you don't need to, that would be rude on my part!" I laughed nervously.

"No, really, it's okay." He didn't seem like he would let up, so I relented.

"Well, thanks. But watch out." I said as I started down the hall towards the P.E. locker rooms. "There will only be girls in the stands, fighting for my attention…" I looked up thoughtfully. "Actually, never mind. You'll fit right in." Merlin punched me in the arm, met with my laughter.

Honestly, I think Merlin is one of the best friends I've ever had. And I'd only known him for a week.


	2. Enter Gwaine and Friends, Center Stage

**A/N: Yayy another chapter. This one's pretty long, but doesn't cover as much time as the first chapter. I changed a couple details in the first chapter, btw: a week has passed since the first time Arthur and Merlin met, and Leon was the one to grab Merlin, not Lance.  
Btw, did you see the news update? 'Parrently all the MA stuff here that takes up 50% of most slash fandoms isn't allowed... haha, changing this to M just in case, so i don't get into trouble... ^^;  
Please R & R! Thank you!**

* * *

"So…bitch much?"

"Not really. Look, can you drop it?"

"YOUR bitch?"

"NO."

"Ah, he's the 'look but don't touch' type?"

"Shut up." I growled, struggling to get my gear on. My burgundy football uniform still had grass stains from yesterday that I hadn't washed of. I wasn't going to look my best, and due to a certain dark haired boy outside, I was feeling self-conscious.

"He's WAITING in the STANDS, Arthur. Look at me and tell me there's nothing going on." Gwaine smirked, pulling on his #12 shirt on. I blushed, turning away from Gwaine to hide it.  
"Nothing's happening," I mumbled.

"Can't he~ar you!" My friend sang, cupping his ear for affect.

I whipped around, willing my blush to disappear.

"There's nothing going on, okay?" I shouted a bit too loud in defense. It reminded me when Merlin had said "sexually" way too loud. "I just have to show him around the school, and he's gonna tutor me on top of that. THAT'S ALL."

"I might have to warn little Merlin to watch his ass, for his virginity's sake." Gwaine laughed, fixing the straps of his shoulder pads. "MERlin. What an unusual name."

"Hey, your name's GWAINE."

"And Lancey 's is _Lancelot_. My god, we're like knights! Knights of Camelot, the round table, y'know?" He let out a dramatic gasp, hands displaying gestures of mock amazement. "That means you're our king! King Faggot, sire, go and fuck your wizard."

"I'm not gay, Gwaine, quit it with the jokes already!" I strapped on my guards. Good to go. "Though…"

"You can tell me anything," Gwaine said. I gave a resigned sigh.

"He's really amazing."

"Go on."

"He wants to be a doctor…" I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling suddenly girly. It was like talking about a crush to my BFF, or however girls put it.

"And so he's really smart."

"That's nice!" Gwaine said kindly, hoping to extract more info.

"I think I—" Shut up, before you say something stupid.

Gwaine inclined his head in my direction, implying to continue.

"He has the biggest blue eyes, like marbles, and the goofiest smile it's like he knows something I don't…And his laugh—god he's just so adorable, and he said he rides horses and shit—and he's so nice, he forgave me for what happened the other day, remember? And I—"

"Alright." Gwaine smiled creepily. "I think I get it now."

"What's up with your face? Don't look at me like that."

"Arthur." Leon grinned. He was already dressed in his #50 jersey, pads fitted and extra ball tucked under his arm. "So. You and this Merlin fellow."

"God Damnit, we're not a couple, for the last time!" I groaned, hitting a closed steel locker. Not the best idea.

"Hey, chill, dude. You can't deny you have a crush." Gwaine chuckled as I rubbed my knuckles. That's the second time I'd hurt myself on a locker today. The first time, I'd been with—

"Merlin, huh?" said another guy, with the number 66.

"Shut up, Lance," I growled, not wanting to repeat myself any further. This was getting really annoying.

"MEERLIN!" Damn. Elyan. This was not good.

"Shut UP, EVERYBODY. Just leave me alone…" I rubbed my forehead, hoping they would get the memo.

"Ooh, defensive already, are we?" Elyan pursed his lips. "Don't worry, I won't steal your little toy." He threw his trademark smirk, hand on hip, #7 sitting proudly on his chest.  
I glared at him, reaching for my shoes.

"You know what? Don't talk to me."

Elyan was nice for the most part. He got into heaps of trouble, though; I don't even know where to begin: gangs, drugs, hardcore sports bets, etcetera. Even so, he had a good heart. Elyan was Gwen's older brother, Gwen being the girl who everyone liked. Gwaine and Lance both had flings with her…no one really knew who she would end up with. Even _I_ dated her for a bit, but we decided to stay friends. Gwaine and Lance had both been flirting with her since the 3rd grade. Elyan wasn't too keen on having his dear sister marry either of the dickheads. But Elyan could be quite the asshole as well.

My point was proven as he mimicked someone who was supposed to be me. Elyan leaned back against the wall of lockers opposite me, thrusting his hips forward.

"Oh YEAH, Merlin…that's right, suck me off good." Elyan, Leon, Gwaine, and Lance all burst out laughing. I blushed, glaring at my friends.

"Nothing's. Happened," I said, finishing tying my cleats.

"O-okay, Ar…Arthur…" Gwaine choked out. "So nothing like _that's_ happened yet, huh?"

"NO, and it will stay that way. Arseholes," I grumbled.

"Arthur, be honest with yourself!" Lance said exasperatedly. "From what I heard, you…well, you know your feelings better than I do."

"Exactly, your emotions are obvious." Leon joined in.

"It's not going to happen." My water bottle in my hands, I got up and walked out of the locker room door.

"Hey, mate. Come on."

Five steps out, I noticed how bright the sun was. It had been cloudier this morning and so I didn't expect it. Shielding my eyes, I tried to clear my mind of the conversation. My friends were too pushy. They didn't get how I felt at all.

Suddenly, I ran into something soft.

"Wh—" I was about to shove the person into the grass before I saw who it was.

"Arthur! Sorry," Merlin laughed, steadying himself. Perfect timing. "The coach sent me to get you guys. I'm apparently the new messenger boy." He grinned.

I smiled stupidly, thinking to myself that Merlin had some sort of happiness virus. He's infected me.

"I'll go get your team," said Merlin, making his way around me.

"Wait, no!" I panicked, grabbing the back of his shirt. "I'll get them, it's fine!" I said quickly. If my friends caught sight of Merlin, who knows what they would say. Actually, I did know. Probably around the lines of 'hey, have you and Arthur really fucked yet? Or have you just messed around in a closet?'.

"You don't want to go in there." I ruffled his hair, steering him back towards the bleachers.

"Can't I meet them?" Merlin asked, giving me a weird look. "It IS my first week here, it would be great to meet your friends."

"NOPE. Not these guys. They're dicks." I continued to push Merlin away from the locker room, towards the safety of the stands.

"But—"

"I'm protecting you. Trust me."

"I can't hang around with just you, Arthur," Merlin said. "Is that what you're getting at?"

"No, no, it's just—"

"Well, who is this?"

I groaned, turning around. "Go AWAY."

"Ooh my god, is this _MERLIN_?" Gwaine's grin stretched from ear to ear, his voice taking on a giddy tone. He crossed his arms, looking Merlin up and down. "I do believe it is."

"Hi!" the dark haired boy smiled and held out his hand. "Yeah, I'm Merlin. Nice to meet you." Gwaine shook his hand warmly, glancing suggestively at me. I glared, wishing he would keep quiet. "Ah, yes. I've heard SO MUCH about you."

"Ah, Gwaine, is this the one?" Elyan said, as the rest of the team—including Leon and Lancelot—came up behind him. Some of the guys gave us weird glances, and walked on. Some stayed to see what was up.

"Yep. Merlin, this is Elyan, Lance, Leon…Percival, Grant, Jason…" Gwaine went on to introduce everyone on the team. Wow. Merlin listened patiently, nodding as Gwaine gestured to each one.

He gave a shy wave. "Hi. I'm new."

"From the way Arthur goes on about you, I'm surprised! It's like he's known you forever!" Elyan laughed, clapping Merlin on the shoulder. I gave him a death stare, bringing my finger swiftly across my neck, and pointing to him in quick succession.

"He talks about me?" Merlin asked curiously, giving a slight laugh.

"Yeah, you're—" I clamped a hand tightly over Elyan's mouth. I took a moment to squeeze firmly, my laser-vision eyes boring holes into his skull.

"Haha, yeah. I've told them how you're smart and I asked you to tutor me."

"Okay?"

I let go of Elyan's big trap, satisfied.

The chatter from the team around us drowned out our conversation, keeping it more private than if everyone had been staring. Most of them had left; several didn't care what was going on, and a few more were known for going to practice last every day.

Leon stepped up nervously. He was with me that first day; he had the right to be worried.

"Hello."

Merlin jumped, as he was facing the other direction and didn't see him. He turned around, blinking in the bright sunlight.

"I'm Leon. We met before in…unfortunate circumstances."

Merlin laughed off his surprise, shaking Leon's hand.

"Oh, it's fine. I give Arthur grief about it all the time. No big deal, Leon." He smiled his amazing smile.

"I get why you like him," Gwaine whispered in my ear. I looked at Merlin, and my heart melted a bit.

"I don't." Even I could hear the lie laced in my refusal. I'm sure Gwaine knew the truth by now, if he didn't already.

"Sure you don't, stud."

"Guys, you should go. Your coach sent me to get you in the first place." Merlin crossed is arms. "Shoo. Off to practice."

"Hey, don't leave us so fast. We need to get to know you!" Gwaine swooped in, waving his hands in protest.

"I really think you should go, Gwaine, sorry. It's been nice meeting you, though," Merlin said, good naturedly. "You're pretty awesome. I hope we can be friends."

"You said I was awesome." Gwaine smiled slyly. He glanced over at me. "Has he called _you_ awesome?"  
I knew that line. I clenched my hands, refraining from punching him. That look said ' I'll take him if you don't hurry, hotshot'.

"Yes, he has." I frowned. I didn't recall if Merlin had, but I didn't care.

"I see. And of course we can be friends, Merlin!" Gwaine's smile was sickly sweet.

"In fact, Gwaine, Merlin is tutoring me."

"I know that." Gwaine knew what I was getting at, but almost laughed at how I was failing.

"AND I'm his escort, and he's sharing my locker…" I stupidly tried to think of something to outmatch Gwaine. "And—"

"Yes, yes, I get that he's your boy…" Gwaine faked a cough. "…BEST friend now. No need to prove it."

Elyan chuckled, glancing at Merlin, who had a ghost of a blush on his face from the attention

"Yeah, Arthur. We're not stealing him."

I must have been red with embarrassment.

"I know."

"OKAY!" Merlin broke through the tension, clapping his hands. "As I said, go now! Forth to your practice!" On cue, the coach was heard shouting from the field.

"Boys! You're late!" Came a distant reprimand. Most of the team had already left, but the ones who had stayed to watch our scuffle groaned, anticipating the amount of exercises that were to come for being late.

"Arthur! You should go." Merlin gave me a lopsided smile, turning to walk back to the stands.

I waved, watching him go. My hand went limp once he wasn't looking.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Gwaine hissed, level with my shoulder. "Say something!"

"I—uh…" He's right. Think of something to say. "You look—really nice! Today!" Shit. DAMNIT. What did I just—WHAT? That's not what I was supposed to say!

Don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact.  
I started jogging towards the field, avoiding looking for Merlin in the stands at all costs. I didn't see if he heard me, but I wasn't about to take the chance. Gwaine caught up with me quickly.

"Nice," he drawled. "Real smooth. Professional. Flawless. I was surprised he didn't demand for you to take him on the spot."

"Did he do anything?"

"Other than look at me, like 'what the fuck was that?' and then shrug? Nothing. Not even a hint of a boner."

"I wasn't planning on _that_."

"Arthur. When I said 'say something', what I really meant was to get him so hot and bothered that you would have hot shower sex in the locker room right after practice."

"Oh."

Gwaine's mind is messed up.

"Yeah. Merlin just brushed it off."

"Well, then. I guess I'm just stupid."

"Yes. Yes, you are." Gwaine rolled his eyes.

"After practice. I need to explain that I _don't _want to take advantage of Merlin at every opportunity."

Gwaine patted me on the back, groaning in sympathy.

"You're hopeless…."

A whistle sounded before I could respond.


	3. Cue Lights

**A/N: Wowww this took some time. I wrote the beginning, then the ending, then the middle ^^; BUT IVE FINALLY FIGURED OUT SOME OF THE PLOT I'm excited to write another chapter, guys ;)  
I just kinda threw Gaius in...oh well...**

Walking onto the field, my cleats clung to the dewy grass; suction pulled down on my shoes a little every time I took a step. The sun hadn't melted away all of the water yet; my socks would probably be soaked by the time practice was over.

"Okay, boys. Down on the ground, twenty push-ups. If you get sick, I have meds in the office, as usual," Coach Gaius droned.

Everyone underestimated him due to his old age and obvious lack of skill in football. The truth was, he was the school doctor. The low funding required him to take on both jobs. Gauis was a hard ass, though. He would work us as hard as he wanted; if one of us threw up, he had medicine available at his fingertips. After two years of coming to practice, though, you got used to it.

Everyone cranked out their exercises. I didn't do as well as I would have, mainly because I knew there was a certain boy watching me. I couldn't do a full sit up without glancing over in the general direction of where Merlin sat, watching.

Fifteen minutes passed, and we were all panting. Gaius stood watching, clad in an old traditional sweat uniform. He observed our progress through the routine, pleased that we were worn out. Fifty of two exercises; push-ups, sit ups, kick ups: your choice. Gaius said it worked both muscles and "self esteem"; if you finished last, you sucked. If you finished first, people hated you for it.

He gestured for us to group up. On impulse, Gwaine, Lance and I stood side by side, listening to instructions.

"All right, boys. Today we need to go over the set we worked on last week. Our last game…" Gaius lectured us. I couldn't listen. I was so damn nervous. Why had I let Merlin come to practice? I was sweating anxiously, trying my best to keep my eyes on the grass.

Lancelot nudged me with his elbow, as my behavior was obvious.

"Focus. If you look bad, Merlin will think you're just talk," he murmured, so Gaius couldn't hear.

"I know, I fucking know," I snapped at him.

"Well, excuse me," Lance said, offended by my tone. I felt bad, but didn't want to say sorry.

"Jesus, Arthur. You're way too tense about this." Gwaine stared at me, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm under a lot of pressure right now."

"Merlin."

"How did you guess?" I drawled in Lance's direction.

"So when your opponent tries to get past you…"

We were all silent, pretending to listen for a couple seconds. We knew the drill backwards and forwards; Gaius knew this. He only needed something to practice. Last game, we beat the other school's team into the dirt. It was fun.

Not that I could pay attention, at any rate. I was thinking about Merlin, and the other two were worried about my sanity.

"Just relax." Lance tried again to calm me down a bit. "You've done this, what, a hundred times?"

"More," Gwaine chimed in.

"Yes, just imagine Merlin as one of the crowd." Lance thumbed at the stands. "Look, there's only a few couples and girls here to watch today. Merlin's paying half attention; probably studying."

"That's the issue, though!" I groaned softly. "I know he's up there in the first place!"

"Did I mention you're damn hopeless? You should be happy!" Gwaine punched me in the arm. I didn't bother to punch him back.

"Okay, you got that?" Gaius had wrapped up. "Not that any of you were listening…"

The team erupted into a mess of retorts at the statement. Of course none of them had been listening, but if Gauis had noticed it, denial was imminent.

"Okay then, go do the technique I asked!" Gaius chided. He was met with "uhm"s and "fine!"s. Fortunately, Lance had heard most of the discussion.

"Stealing the ball, passing with the outside, right?"

"Yes. Happy at least you were listening," Gaius mumbled. "Now don't disappoint me." Gaius proceeded to the benches to rest his legs.

Pass. Bounce. Kick. Bump. Etcetera.  
Finally into the game, I was able to keep my mind off a certain someone. A certain someone who…yeah. I've had too much time to _look_ at him, in general. I've traced every grove on his face at least three times this week. And counted the pieces of hair that stuck out of place. And I've given a name for his eye colour; DEEP Royal Blue. Like royal blue, but darker. Deeper. Damn, I'm acting like a stalker…

"Arthur, open!" I snapped out of my daze, realizing I was still kicking the ball down the field. Percival, in a #77 jersey, was calling for me to pass. Lance stood in front of me, attempting to steal the ball. He was obviously going easy on my sorry ass cause I was so out of it.

"Perce!" I kicked with my right foot, curving to Percival on my left. He caught it with his foot perfectly, and passed it to a blonde forward named Fin. Our strategy, like Gaius had instructed, was to pass to the outside in order to avoid the ball being stolen. As I ran up behind Fin, he kicked t backwards to me. I shot towards the goal; it made it in, just above Grant's huge hands.

"Yes!" my side chanted at different times. I smiled a little. I was the MVP, the prize of the team being a Pendragon. I usually didn't let my happiness show through that I was actually a part of my team's success. Today, I felt different.

James, a defender, passed to me as I shot down the field. Hank was open, another forward, a couple feet from the goal line. Gwaine appeared in front of me, a smug look on his face.

"Gwaine, fuck off," I grinned, in the competitive mood once again. Back to my old self.

"Nu-uh, gotta—" Gwaine tried to take me by surprise, sweeping his foot towards the football. I swiped it out of the way, behind me, where I kicked it forward towards James.  
Gwaine jumped in the direction of the ball, somehow managing to reach it, and kicked it towards the other end of the field.  
Football happened so fast, you didn't really have a time to think. Gwaine had stolen the ball, and was now passing to his forwards on the outside, like my group had before.

"Damn," I grumbled. I ran after Gwaine, just as a forward on the other team shot. They didn't make it in, but even so, Gwaine had gotten past me. We reset, trying a second time at the technique; I was more focused now. Come on, Arthur.

Fin stole the football from Lance with the outside of his foot. He passed the ball across the field to James, who dribbled down the grass, looking for someone to pass to.

"James!" I called, open near the goal. "Here!"

He looked over, smiling. I smiled back. _Our secret weapon._

I sprinted towards the goalie, just above the goal line. James kicked it not to me, but against one of the defender's legs. It bounced off his shin guard, straight to me. I trapped it, and kicked it ceremoniously into the goal through Grant's legs.

The sparse people in the stands cheered, recognizing the prize technique of the team. The girls, either girlfriends of the players or wanting to be one, squealed in excitement, so loud that it could be heard from the fields below. I wondered for a second if Merlin was yelling, too. Sparing a glance, I saw that he had a huge smile plastered over his face; he was proud of me.  
I felt warmth bubble from the bottom of my chest, and well up to my mouth in the form of a loud, assertive laugh.

"Score!" I yelled at Grant, giving him an ironic thumbs up. Grant flipped me off, throwing the ball into center field again.

"Bitch," he grumbled, giving me a playful shove.

"I'm just too good for you," I said sarcastically, taking up a haughty stance.

"That's why you're on this team. Go bother Lancelot, or something."  
I laughed, running down the field to meet Grant's request.

The rest of the practice went well, compared to usual standards. I scored a couple more goals against Grant, and Grant became thoroughly pissed at me for doing so. We trained in a few other techniques, mostly in stealing. Gaius said he was proud of us in the end, even though he made us feel like shit throughout practice. Gwaine and I had a scuffle, where I punched him in the gut and we had both ended up into the mud. We were both laughing good-heartedly, our backsides covered in wet dirt. Lance stayed out of it, running into the locker rooms as to avoid having mud thrown at him.

All at once, I remembered that Merlin was waiting in the stands for me, and that we had study afterwards. I suddenly became self-conscious, realizing I was covered from head to toe in dirt and grime.

"Quick, cover for me!" I hissed to Gwaine, pushing him towards the bleachers in a vain attempt to hide myself. My hair was dripping, and I didn't want to be seen in such a state by someone I wanted to have sex with.  
Then I realized what I had said. Gwaine

"On second thought, no, you're coming with me—" I tried to pull him towards the locker room.

Too late.

"Hey!"Merlin ran from the stairs to greet me. I tried to hide behind Gwaine, but since he was short and all, I only managed to look stupid.

"Hey, Merlin. What are you doing here?" I stepped from behind my friend, giving Merlin a wide smile to distract from how dirty I was.

"I was waiting for you, remember?"

"I thought you would've left by now…"

"No, no! It was really fun," he said, putting his hands in his back pockets. "Your team is brilliant. I thought you were bluffing when you said you were the best football player on your team. No offense, Gwaine."

"Some taken," Gwaine scoffed.

"You both can tie for first." Merlin looked back up at the stands, as if looking for someone. "I met a couple people. Do you know Gwen?"

"Yeah. Gwaine knows her pretty well, too." I hinted, earning an elbow from my friend.

"And a couple guys…I don't remember their names, though." Merlin concentrated hard, trying to remember the names of the boys he had met. I was glad he didn't remember.

"You should hold onto him tight…" Gwaine whispered discreetly in my ear.

For a moment, I was worried. What would happen if Merlin found other friends? Better friends than me? What if he found someone special?  
I had the unholy thought of tying my friend up, and keeping him safe with me. Only me.  
That would be like having a slave of a servant. That wasn't okay. That isn't what I'm supposed to think. He's a person, too. He deserves the best…but obviously the best is _me_…

"Dude, you're such a prat, getting all muddy like that!" Merlin laughed, reaching up to pet my messy hair. I couldn't help but grin a little, even though I was feeling sick. I quickly pushed his hand away.

"Don't go touching my hair, I know it's perfect."

He laughed again, gesturing to both of us.

"You two should really be more careful," Merlin said, beaming.

"It was _Arthur_, of course, don't go blaming _me_." Gwaine waved his hands, puppy dog eyes coming into play.

"Of course! I know for a fact most things are Arthur's fault," Merlin replied, giving me a sly look.

"I was only talking about him and Gwen!" I protested. "Everyone knows they're shagging!"

Gwaine gave a short yell of objection, tackling me to the ground again. I went down without resistance, partly because I was startled, but MOSTLY because I felt he needed the confidence boost. He could never tackle me in a fair fight, of course. Gwaine stood up, wiping his hands, a triumphant look on his face.

"Nah, that's just a rumor."

"I have to go get THIS out of my hair, if you don't mind…" I grumbled, acting angry, even though it was all very amusing. I took the opportunity to grab Gwaine by the arm, and pull him roughly along with me to the locker rooms once again.

"I'll meet you inside the school, okay, Arthur?" Merlin called after me, and I turned around to reply.

"Sure. My locker?"

"Don't be more than 15 minutes, or I'll leave," he said warningly.

"All right, all right." I knew he wouldn't leave me, but just in case, I tapped my wrist, indicating that I would keep track of the time. Grinning, Gwaine and I left Merlin to himself, waiting for me yet again.

Gwaine was right. I should have made him my servant, locked away. Or at least, I should have kept him in my sights.


	4. Introduce Possible Antagonist

**A/N: *nervous laugh* HAHA HEEEEY THERE ":D  
I was going to upload one huge chapter for you guys waiting patiently for my procrastination to end, but I decided to break it into two… because there's two pretty different settings and shit like that. So yeah. I will be uploading **_**ANOTHER**_** chapter (which I've finished, I'm just going to edit it) TOMORROW or LATER TONIGHT. 4,000 fucking words, goddamnit.  
By the way, I'm not using Will. Probably not. He's totally overused as the main jealousy antagonist. And he isn't really a bad guy. So I probably won't be using him at all…just a heads up.  
Anyways, enjoi :)**

I took a quick shower, dried of quickly, and dressed in front of my sports locker. At least I smelled good now, with the caked mud out of my hair.  
Gwaine and the others teased me about Merlin, and I ignored them. If I got into a conversation, I'd be late.

Gwaine was talking to me the whole time I dressed, with him doing the same a couple lockers over. I had put on jean trousers, a red polo, and my usual leather jacket. I didn't have an extra pair of socks today, so I wore my trainers without them. It was uncomfortable, but I was only going home after this, so I would be fine.  
I stuffed my gear and uniform into my duffel bag to take home to clean at home. That mud was going to take some deep-cleaning to get out...nothing the maids couldn't handle, though. My clothes had been through worse.

"BYE!" I shouted in general, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Hey, wait, what about your game codes?" Gwaine started to ask. I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Must have been a conversation I'd only replied with 'sure' and 'okay' to.

"Uh…I'll text you?"

"Bitch. You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" Gwaine grumbled, taking the aloof road and settling with a simple yet elegant flip of his middle finger.

I shrugged my shoulders with a shit eating grin, knowing Gwaine would get me for it later.

I pushed the door to the school hallways open. I'd been in this school for years; I knew every shortcut and hallway ever built.

I'd told Merlin to meet me…where?  
My locker. Yeah.  
Then we were going to head to my house for Merlin to tutor me. Maybe more? One could only hope.

We had decided as of this week, that when Merlin had time to tutor me, it was after school in the school library. We had our own designated corner, where no one would even dream of bothering us. We had met…seven times, from the start of term? That sounded about right. It had been a week since school had started this year.  
We hadn't gotten around to heading to my house yet. I was kinda excited to show him around…

I heard voices around the corner. I would have just kept walking, but I heard Merlin's voice and I faltered. Feeling like a stalker, I waited in the hallway across from where I heard the group of people.

Voices; more than one. And a couple that I recognized.

"I can help you with chem, if you'd like," said one voice, deep and tempting. "You can come over to my place anytime."

"I'm fine with chem right now, thanks." That was Merlin. From anyone else's perspective, he sounded self-assured. I knew better; he was nervous. Something was going on.

"You can't help him with science, anyways, Cen!" another voice laughed. "You're failing the class, am I right?"

I knew his voice was familiar.

"Shut up," Cenred said calmly. "So…" I heard a metallic clang. My worst vision of the scenario was that Cenred had his hand against the rows of lockers, face too close to Merlin's for comfort. "We should go out sometime, mate. I know a bar that takes minors."

Merlin laughed, a cheery sound, contrasting against the unwelcome voices of the other students.

"Uh, maybe some other time? I'm supposed to go to Arthur's house today, we're going to—"

"Arthur." Cenred sounded surprised, laced with hostile recognition. "Arthur Pendragon?"

"Yes." Merlin sounded on edge now, as the friendliness in Cenred's voice had gone. The grown man's "posse" seemed to have quieted, obviously uneasy with the change in conversation.

"He's never taken anyone to his house, has he?" It seemed to be a rhetorical question, as no one answered. Cenred laughed. "Well well. You must be special, honey."

"Thanks?"

Okay. This was over. Cenred did _not_ just call Merlin—fucking—NO. It was not on my agenda for Cenred to take interest in Merlin. Nope.

"Hey, Merlin. What's going on." I walked as if I had been walking down the hallway, and hadn't stopped to spy on their conversation. My voice, however, showed the sign that I had been listening.

"Hi, Arthur," Merlin said. He was expectedly surrounded by a group of Cenred's stupid friends. Cenred was closer to my friend than I was comfortable with, his hand indeed was against the wall of lockers, Merlin pressed against it. Merlin pulled it off quite well, though. He had crossed his arms, leaning nonchalantly against the lockers as if he wasn't bothered at all by the questionable gang around him.  
I walked forward, grabbing Merlin's hand to pull him out of his position. Cenred removed his hand, looking amused.

"Let's go. I don't want to get stuck in traffic," I said casually.

"You in a hurry?" Cenred asked, dark messy hair framing his lined face. He looked older than his age, and was somewhat taller than me, but didn't intimidate me in the slightest. I would have clocked him out if I wasn't the son of the principal. Father would definitely be angry if I smudged his spotless reputation.

"Yeah. If you don't mind getting the hell away from us, that would be brilliant," I spat, adjusting my bag over my shoulder.

"All right, don't bite me…" Cenred smirked, giving me a knowing glance between Merlin and myself. I glared as he and his crew of bastards retreated down the hall, to the library, probably to go and pester some other poor lad.

"Arthur—" Merlin started, but I cut him off as I pulled him away from the lockers. Left, into the boy's bathroom. Thank god no one else was there, or I would have clocked them too.

In another situation, we might have had some "fun" in the bathroom after school, in danger of being found out. But I was too upset to even consider anything like that at the moment.

"Hey!" I hissed once we were inside. "Are you okay?"

"What? I'm fine." he asked skeptically. He was looking at me with eyes that read 'what the hell is going on?'. "_You_ okay, mate?" he said in a low, questioning voice.

"No, I'm not. Why were you with them? You said you'd be next to my locker."

"I was! Did you not notice?"

"I thought it was going to be just you there!"

"I met those guys during your practice! I can talk to people, can't I?"

"You can't talk to them! Don't get _near_ them!" I shouted, slamming my hand against the wall next to Merlin. He flinched, shutting his eyes quickly, and I instantly felt guilt grab me by the throat.

"Why do you even care? They're just students!" Merlin recovered quickly, backing away from me and towards the other wall. "I'll admit they were creepy, but they seemed nice enough…"

"You don't know them. That's _Cenred._ He's got an army of tools waiting at his disposal. If you do anything to go against him, you're dead, Merlin." I tried to convey how worried I was. Of course I was jealous. But more importantly, Cenred was a dangerous enemy I had made a long time ago. That guy was slippery, and everyone knew it. Except for Merlin, of course. "And he was obviously hitting on you! He'll fuck whatever's in front of him, I know how he is."

"You're being over protective of me. You're my friend, but you don't pick who I do and do not hang out with, Arthur," he said stonily.

"You don't understand damnit!" I groaned, stepping closer again. Merlin glanced nervously at the space between us, dark eyes flicking from the floor to my face.

"Arthur, I-"

"Merlin, _please_, this isn't a matter of me being over protective right now. I'm trying to keep you safe, not patronize you."

"It's not just patronizing. You won't leave me alone, Arthur. I'm not talking about if Cenred is a good person or not, or if I'm choosing the right people to be friends with. I'm talking about how you think you own me."

"Because I... I care about you, alright?" I dodged another word in place of care. I was starting to sound desperate, a feeling which I NEVER showed. Never. Damn, I act weird around him. "Look, I-"

"Just stop." Merlin rubbed his forehead, looking at the ground with dull eyes. "Lets...let's just get to your house, okay?"

"Oh." I forgot we were going back to my house to study. "Merlin, we _are_ going to finish this later."

"No, were not." Merlin gave a short scoff, turning his back to me. He crossed his arms, glancing at me over his shoulder. "You can't order me around like you're a damn king, Arthur. Because even though you're high up in the ranks, you're _not_ a king."  
I couldn't answer to that. Merlin was right...he's always right, damnit. I couldn't control him. If Merlin wanted to make those decisions, then fine. But I'd always be there to help him if he needed it.

"Okay." I exhaled loudly, closing my eyes to collect myself. "I'm..." wait for it. COME ON, coward, say it. "...Sorry. I'm sorry, right? And you _know_ I am _never_ saying that again." I didn't laugh, though Merlin did, as if it were a joke. It worked well as a joke, but I usually said that to my friends because I meant it. Somehow, though, I knew I would be saying that word to Merlin again. Hopefully not sooner than later.

"It's all right, mate." Merlin's trademark grin was back again, and given the situation, it seemed remarkably genuine. "You're looking out for me, I just...don't need it." It took some effort not to start arguing again.

"Let's get out of here." I sniffed, scratching the back of my head. "We've been here far too long for one day."

"Agreed," Merlin laughed.

"Hey, uh…I'll be right there. I have to get something." I gestured in the general direction of my locker. "You know where my car is, right?"

"Yeah. Don't be too long," Merlin said. He looked a bit skeptical, but waved and headed towards the front of the school. He knew how to get around at this point; he'd been at this school for more than a week.

I watched him go out the front entrance, then headed deliberately in the opposite direction of my locker.

Cenred.

I heard the same annoying voices in the library, like I predicted they were. In the corner, the science fiction section. They obviously weren't looking at the books, only picking them up and tossing them on the carpet just to irritate the librarian and caretakers.

"_The Weird_. Wow, what a specific title."

"We should get out of this shit hole, seriously. When does The Crystal Cave open?"

"Seven thirty. I can't believe those idiots take fake I.D.s."

"Hey, dick face," I snarled, slamming my fist against the bookshelf to get their attention; more explicitly, Cenred's attention.

"Oh, hey, it's the princess." Cenred flashed me a grin, coolly dropping a hardback book. "Need something?"

"Yeah. BACK OFF."

"What? You need to be more specific." Cenred picked up another book, flipping through it.

"I mean, stay away from my friends," I didn't get any closer, just leaned against the bookshelf.

"Merlin? That's his name, right?" Cenred sneered.

"I never said anyone specific. Just stay away, all right? You don't need to get into any more trouble."

"You're not threatening me, are you?" the book dropped, making a dull thump. Cenred's friends looked at me, disinterested in whatever feud or grudge Cenred and I had against each other.

"Of course not," I laughed coldly. I'd made my point, and I stuffed my hands in my pockets, moving to leave. "I just don't want you near him, okay? It wouldn't be good for anyone."

"You said 'him'," Cenred said triumphantly.

"So what if I did? Just stay away." I fucked up. Damnit.

"You fancy him, I bet," Cenred teased, glancing in my direction. "You don't want him to get involved with the wrong crowd, do you? Don't want your precious little plaything to get caught in something dangerous, huh?"

"I-I don't..." I was blushing, losing my grip on dominance. "Stay the _fuck_ away from him. Don't get into something you don't want to. Because I promise you, if you so much as touch him..." I left it at that. I couldn't put into words what I would do to Cenred if he dared.

"I won't make any promises." Cenred wasn't looking at me anymore, or even facing me. Damn he was hard to talk to.

I left without another word, not wanting to get into a fight.  
Out the library door, giving a sympathetic look at the librarian's assistant, only here as an intern. She glanced at me, and looked away just as quick.

'_I won't make any promises'_

Wasn't the answer I was hoping for, but good enough for now.


	5. Setting: Pendragon Estate

**A/N: I SWEAR I WAS WORKING ON IT ;A; I was just making it longer. Sorry if it's boring…  
and sorry about the wait! I know summer should have more updates, I'll try to get on it. I'm just a slow writer at times… this is one of those times…  
Anyways, enjoy this chapter. And: more reviews, faster update times, as they always say ;) I love reviews, who doesn't!**

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Merlin had climbed awkwardly into the passenger seat of the car, taking a minute to look around and fiddle with the knobs for the took my car back to my house...it was an obviously awkward ride. White Maserati, GranTurismo. My car was as obvious as it gets.

"How far _is_ your house?" Merlin gaped, as we travelled past tall mansions and neighborhoods of shining cars. "It's got to be one of these, right?" I smiled a bit at Merlin's ignorance at the way upper class lived.

"It's farther."

"From here?"

"We have our own estate."

"How the _fuck_ do you have an entire _estate_?!" he grabbed my shoulder, shaking it as if I was insane for suggesting such a thing.

"Hey! Calm down, I'm driving," I laughed, and Merlin reluctantly sat back in his seat.

"Camelot is considered prep. Even Eton quality." I stated with some satisfaction. "Father's salary isn't exactly considered average."

"Christ...you might as well have a waterpark."

"We have a pool, but we don't use it." It was hard not to brag at this point. I wanted to impress Merlin, but not enough to make him think I was a rich prat.

"You're such a rich prat." Merlin smirked, looking out the window. He was half in awe, half scoffing at how cut off the upper classmen were from the world.

"I'm not a rich prat," I frowned, again wondering if Merlin could read minds.

"Let's look at the facts," my friend said, drumming his fingers on the dashboard. "You are rich, yes?"

"...Yes," I said, knowing I wouldn't win this fight.

"And you're a prat, so everything points to you being a rich prat." Merlin grinned.

"Who said I was a prat, though?"

"I did," Merlin said smoothly.

"Oh, so that _definitely_ proves I'm a prat." I drawled with sarcasm.

"You just admitted it."

"You're ridiculous."

"Is...was that an alpaca?" Merlin said, looking out the window, distracted now with wide eyes.

"Yes, Merlin. The neighbors have alpacas."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"This is your house."

"Yeah."

"It's..." no words past that. I smiled sympathetically, not knowing if Merlin had really ever seen a house this big. I stood back to admire for the first time in a while. I really took it for granted.

The house was huge, four stories. There was a lake to the right, a bunch of obviously manicured trees to the left, leading into forests that I remember exploring as a kid. The house itself was white, with a steeped roof and a couple towers. There were multiple staircases inside, and more rooms than I cared for. It was literally a castle, minus the moat with crocodiles.

"Gigantic? Massive?" I offered.

"I was thinking more..." Merlin blinked, mouth still wide. "...ginormous motherfucker." I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. No, more like doubled over laughing.  
Merlin glared at me, though I could tell in my fit that he was trying really hard not to laugh as well.

"Rich prat," he said seriously, but then failed his act when he started giggling. "Arthur, your fortress is too big. Who even lives here?"

"Me...my father...servants," I said, trying to get my breath back.

"You must be lonely." Merlin gave me a smile, as if teasing, but it was somewhat sad.

"I do fine."

"Ah. I see." Merlin sensed he was entering a sensitive topic, though I hadn't given him any hint that I was about to get defensive. I wasn't about to admit that I got lonely from time to time. I wasn't about to admit that I loved being at school because I wasn't alone.

"Anyways," I coughed. "Do you want to go inside and study?"

"Are you kidding me?" Merlin raised an eyebrow, surprised I even suggested studying. "You have a mansion the size of Buckingham, and you want to study. Where's the Arthur I know and love?" he laughed, a pink tinge barely visible on his cheeks.  
I grinned, but looked away at my house, hands on my hips.

"I was trying to follow your example."

"We'll get to maths later, mate. I want to see your pool that you don't use."

"Really? Okay, if you want..." I said, walking towards the large entrance door. Merlin grinned, springing up the steps ahead of me.

"Hey, I've got the key, idiot-" I laughed, running to catch up. We raced up the stairs, two flights of slick white marble. We ended up tying when we both slammed our hands on the door at the same time.

"I win!" we said in unison.

"Now, _Arthur_, _dear_," Merlin coaxed. "Don't be upset because a skinny teenager beat you."

"Don't be an idiot, _darling_," I retorted. "I have the key, so I win on default."  
Merlin stood back as I fished my house key from my pocket, looking amusedly up at the large door.

"You're still not counting the fact that you had a head start." I added hastily, unlocking the door with a click.

"You cheated," Merlin stated simply and without reason, making me laugh again.

Since our house was almost half of my father's life earnings, we had an extra panel code for security. I punched in 5-2-2-1, four numbers I'd known forever. My birthday backwards. I swung open one of the two entrance doors, revealing the dimly lit interior of my house. Gray marble. Old, artisan rugs sat on the floor, a chandelier, and professionally placed artifacts and furniture were organized to be shown off around the entrance hall.  
I stepped forward, holding the door open for the one I was still hoping to impress.

"After you," I said softly, gesturing inside.

Words couldn't describe the wonderfully new look on Merlin's face. In awe was only part of it. Amazed? Not even close. Star struck?  
Merlin walked slowly inside as I propped the door open. I watched him closely. Not just his arse, of course, but _him_. How he took in everything, bit by bit, unlike how I just waltzed in after every school day without a second glance. It was fascinating.  
Merlin spread his fingers, open and closed them, and raised his arms, meeting only open air with plenty of room. Like a kid, he laughed as he spun around once, trailing his hands and enjoying the space. He stopped suddenly, a look of embarrassment taking his features.

"I feel as if I'm intruding," he said, fiddling with the zipper of his jacket.

"No, of course not." I smiled warmly, loving how awkward Merlin felt.

"Really? I mean..." he looked around nervously. "Look at this place. I feel like I'm about to rob you."

"You'll be seeing the rest of it in a minute," I smiled. I took the key from the pristine lock in the door, putting it back into my pocket. Letting the heavy wood swing shut, I made sure to hear the click and beep of the security mechanisms locking. "Where to first? You're the guest."

"Pool. Definitely the pool." Merlin grinned.

"Right this way." I was glad Merlin wasn't bored or anything. In fact, he was enjoying my house more than I expected. "The servants live downstairs, by the way. They have their own floor." So we won't be bothered. I'd fire anyone who... "disturbed" us. Whatever we were...doing at the time. I didn't have high hopes for today, but just in case. It was Wednesday, and they were probably tending to the horses out back by this time.

Merlin continued to gawk at the decor and magnitude of my house as I guided him through the halls. I had known the ropes my whole life, and strode through like it was nothing. Merlin, however, strayed behind to tap the marble walls or closely inspect a Persian scroll.  
I watched in amusement, when suddenly it hit me.

"Merlin—are you planning to swim in your trousers, or should I get you a pair of swim trunks?" I leaned against the wall, raising my eyebrows.

"Oh, I really don't care. I wouldn't want to be a bother." He didn't look up from the antique set of armor placed next to one of the hallways.

"I haven't used any. I have a couple pairs in my cupboard." I gestured upwards, meaning upstairs. "I'll get them, if you want."

"Nah, its fine."

"If you say so." I stood up again, leaving the support of the wall.

Merlin gave me a quizzical look as he pointed to a naked statue of a woman, raising his eyebrows.

"Come on, idiot..." I chuckled, walking down to the east wing. "The door to it is up ahead."

"Okay." Merlin caught up with me, actually agreeing for once, still trying to take in everything.

We reached the wide door to the indoor patio, a courtyard devised of the pool, a small garden, and lined up chairs. I had never really seen father out here, though the place housed many guests at the occasional party he hosted.

"Whoooa," Merlin breathed, the word somehow divided into three parts.

I hadn't been to the courtyard in a while either. The plants were taken care of by the servants, while the sun roof was made of solid glass. The pool was pretty big, by most standards…almost Olympic size. There was a hot tub located near the edge of it, with stairs to a small second level.

Funny thing is, I never learned how to swim.

"Oh my god, this is brilliant!" Merlin laughed, running up to the edge. I was about to say "be careful", but didn't want to upset him for being too "_over-protective_".

"I'm gonna jump in'" Merlin boasted, toes curling over the edge of the tile.

"Go ahead." I settled on one of the padded chairs we had, lined up against the side of the pool.  
I opened up the news, elbows resting comfortably on my knees.  
I planned to read, and casually peek over my newspaper to watch Merlin get wet. Drip over the tile. Maybe dip my toes in. Possibly get in the hot tub.  
I flipped to the sports page, hoping for anything new. Noticing that I hadn't heard a splash yet, I looked over the top of my newsprint at Merlin.

My jaw dropped a bit and I was blushing hard. Thank god the newspaper was hiding my face.

Merlin obviously, reasonably, and quite understandably didn't want to get his clothes wet. As so, he was delicately peeling them off, folding them into a pile on one of the chairs.

"What are you—?!" I panicked, hoping he wouldn't strip naked. Well, it would be brilliant, but—you know—awkward boner alert.

"I was going to just jump in, but then I remembered I'm staying here for a bit. Don't want to be soaked when we're studying maths," Merlin laughed, unbuttoning his jeans. I looked away, partially out of courtesy, mostly out of not having him see me blush. Damn I was like a fucking girl sometimes. At least Merlin was blushing too, I saw, as I looked over my shoulder.  
Damn look at those legs. What did he do? I caught myself staring and quickly looked away.

"You sure you don't want those swim tr—"

I heard a hefty splash, and felt droplets across my face. I looked down at my newspaper and saw it was dripping wet now.

"Thanks for that," I rolled my eyes, on habit folding my useless newspaper. I got up, and stood next to the pool.

Merlin came up with a gasp for air, and a couple coughs.

"Why in hell don't you use this?! It's amazing!" Merlin grinned, treading water to stay afloat. His head and part of his pale shoulders were visible above the surface, his arms creating waves.

"None of your business," I said, crossing my arms.

"Come on. Jump in!"

"No."

"Do you…know how? To swim, I mean." Merlin gave me a quizzical look, though not accusing.

"No, seriously. I have a giant fucking pool and I don't know how to swim." I tapped my arm, frowning. I said it with sarcasm, even though it was true.

"You don't know how to swim."

"Problem?"

"Yes, of course!" Merlin sacrificed his buoyancy to wave his arms, dunking under the water for a couple seconds. When he resurfaced, he still had that determined look on his face. "I'm teaching you."

"What? No."

"You don't know how to have fun," Merlin said with an exaggerated whine.

"Yes, I do. It doesn't involve swimming. Stop being such a child."  
Merlin climbed out of the pool, dripping wet. He adjusted his wet boxers, avoiding my eye.

I tracked him suspiciously, hands crossed in front of my chest.

"…What are y—"

Before I could react, Merlin made a swift movement and pushed me into the pool. I flailed my arms, trying to regain my balance, but I fell knees first into the water.

For a minute, I scrambled for the surface, freaking out. I didn't know how to swim. I scooped my arms around, gasping for air, being dragged down by my waterlogged clothing.  
I heard Merlin jump in with me, and I felt a warm hand push me, his skin contrasting with the cooler temperature of the water.  
Suddenly, I found the side of the pool, partially thanks to Merlin's push. The slick tile was barely graspable, slipping through my fingers.  
I finally got a solid hold of the side after a minute, holding myself up on my elbows. Whipping my wet hair out of my eyes, I glared at Merlin to my left.

"What the bloody hell! I can't swim! Why would you do that?!" I shouted at him.

"You wouldn't get in unless I pushed you," Merlin shrugged, treading water about two feet from me.  
I splashed water in his direction, hitting him full on in the face. I smirked as he lost his pace in treading, dipping down nose high into the water.

I certainly didn't expect for him to splash me back.

"I don't think you want to get into a splash war with me, mate!" Merlin grinned.

"I'm getting out," I said, trying to regain the cool exterior I had.

"Oh, come _on_, no you're not, I have to teach you how to swim, you prat! Don't be a wet blanket."

"I'm getting out right now," I said, gaining leverage with my elbows on the tile.

"Please? I'm trying to help you out, here!" Merlin begged, and I hesitated. "Come on, Arthur. Try to live a little."

I rolled my eyes, giving a sigh. Merlin would always win me over.

"…Fine."

"Yes!"

"Only for a minute," I warned. "Then I'm getting out."

"Sure. So…are you going to take your pants off?"

"What?"

"You don't want to be dragged down cause of your clothes."

Oh.  
As quickly as possible, still holding onto the wall, I unbuttoned my jeans and shimmied out of them. Lifting them with one hand, I realized how heavy they were and that they were indeed dragging me down. I felt a lot lighter without them.  
All of a sudden, boom. An idea hit me. I haven't made a move on Merlin yet, have I? About time I should, right?

"I'm not taking off my shirt," I said to Merlin, hanging onto the wall. I kicked my feet, keeping my head and shoulders above the water.

"Why?"

"I have to let go of the wall."

"You can't learn how to swim with a shirt on," Merlin argued.

"I know that."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you…want me to take it off for you?" he asked, blushing. I almost grinned, but that would be too obvious.

"Sure."

He hesitated for a moment, before paddling over, avoiding my eye.

"You're wearing...cashmere?"

"Yeah. What a waste. Thanks for pushing me in."

"Shut up…" he held onto the wall with one hand, inching closer. "At least get it farther up. This is weird."

"Fine." I used one hand to inch my heavy red shirt higher on my back, raising my eyebrows to tell Merlin to get a move on.

The fact that he was flustered was what I had wanted. Wet hair plastered across his face, Merlin grabbed the hem of my top, yanking it up to shoulder level. I faced away from him, and altered holding the wall with each hand to make it easier to get my sweater over my shoulders and off my arms. After he was done, I grabbed the bundle of soggy, blue cloth and put it next to my wet jeans.

He blushed prettily, observing the all to interesting plant on the far side of the pool to avoid my eye.

"Thank you," I said unceremoniously.

"You know what, you can learn later."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"But you were so set on it earlier!"

"You're being a dick!"

"What?"

Merlin must have realized that he had no valid argument to use, which was what I was counting on. He splashed me in the face, grumbling to himself. I chuckled, still latched to the wall.

"It's really not that difficult. Just… try floating for now."

"How do I float." Merlin sighed, and I knew if he had hands to use he would press one against his forehead in frustration.

"Tread water. Kick your feet, and sweep your arms back."

"Okay?"

"You have to let go of the wall, Arthur," he laughed.

The first time, I dunked my head. I was expecting it, and quickly scrambled for the wall again, spluttering as I came up.

"Fuck you, Merlin! Th-at doesn't work."

"You have to stay relaxed. See, watch me." Merlin continued treading water, like he had been for the past couple minutes. "It's not that hard."

"There, keep your head up."

"Relax."

"Keep moving your legs. Don't let yourself sink that much."

"Good!"

"Now, move your arms more circularly."

Soon I was…actually floating. I wasn't drowning. I wasn't dead.  
Huh, curious.

"Wow," I said, head above the water, level with Merlin. "I'm not choking on water."

"Strange, huh?" Merlin laughed, going over to grab the tile, and I did as well. Swimming was tiring. Not that I knew how to swim yet, but this was closer to the latter.

I pulled myself up out of the water, dripping and suddenly cold. Merlin did the same, smiling contentedly.

"I should get you some clothes." I considered the option of just letting him walk around naked, dripping wet, but alleged against it for reasons of keeping a safe standard between what I wanted and friendship.

"Would yours fit me?" Of course not.

"They might be a little big."

"Thanks…I'd hate to be a bother. I mean, I raided your swimming pool and everything."

"You just taught me how to not drown, idiot. It's no big deal to have you borrow some clothes."

Gingerly, as not to slip on the wet tile, we both stood up and stepped to the chairs where towels were placed as complimentary from the maids. I tried to keep my eyes off of Merlin, taking it to be a hard task. Keeping my attention on the white towel in my hands, I quickly brushed traces of water off my legs and arms, wrapping it around my shoulders afterwards. I looked back to Merlin, expressionless as I noticed he had been watching me. The other boy sensed that I had seen him, and looked away quickly to rub his towel through his hair, flicking light water droplets to the floor.  
I smiled, flicking my towel positioned around my neck with a snap, and walked around to face him.

"Grab your clothes, Merlin. I'll show you upstairs."

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**A/N: Next chapter comes quicker with reviews! The next chapter's going to be interesting... ;)  
**


	6. Setting: Even More Pendragon Estate

**A/N: FUCKYEEAHUPDATEFINALLY  
jeegus I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while D: I didn't forget about all you guys, I promise! I've had a lot of shit on my plate from school and work combined. Ugh. I literally wrote this in the past two days.  
Hope you like the new chapter, the next one will hopefully come within the week!**

**EDIT: Anyone who is re-reading/just joining, i am taking more time to write the next chapter...making it extra long this time, probably 3500 words this time.**

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We were both still sopping wet, leaving a noticeable trail of water that dripped from our towels and soaked clothing. Merlin followed me as we left the swimming pool to venture elsewhere.

Venture elsewhere as in upstairs.

Now, in most movies and slutty romance novels, going upstairs means foreplay and sex in the privacy of a bedroom. And god knows (he probably wasn't too keen on it, but he knows) how much I wanted that to be a possibility. But not today, because I had only met Merlin less than a month ago, and at least in this case it wasn't worth it if my new plaything never talked to me again. It's been a while since I've had to deal with that boundary. The only people who had actually passed the test of being an actual friend were Gwaine, Leon, Gwen, some of the other football players. The list of friends i had wasn't long, and didn't include the countless slags and manwhores that lined the school. Of course I've flirted with some of them, and messed around, but afterwards, I'd never talked to them again. That wasn't how Merlin and I were going to turn out.

Just because he had grown on me didn't mean that I had the right to fuck him; Merlin was my friend.

Friend. Not a plaything.

God damnit I have to get that through my head. I wonder how long it'll take. And I have to stop with my two way objectives; do I want to make a move, or not?! That stunt I pulled in the pool might as well have been a hint, but what was the point if it wasn't going to go anywhere?

"I don't know what you were thinking, Merlin," I scoffed, clearing my thoughts, snapping my towel around my neck again. "I could have easily gotten you some trunks, but nooo, the great _Mer_-lin swims in his trousers."

"You had a pool. I just couldn't wait," the dripping teenager grinned. He walked next to me on my left, keeping pace but letting me lead when it came to turns. The towel was wrapped around his waist, holding his clothes against his chest. His shirt was drenched. Being the idiot that he was, Merlin had put his clothes far too close to the pool, so when he cannonballed in, they ultimately got drenched.

"You're such a pain; I have to lend you clothes now."

"Sorry," he said, still somewhat unsure if I was jesting or not.

"If I didn't, you'd probably get sick."

"Well..."

"Then I'd have that weight on my mind. Really, Merlin, you're such a bother."

"I try my best," he snickered, making up his mind that I was mocking him.

"You do a bloody fine job at it, too."

"Are you sure I shouldn't...clean up? Or anything?" he asked, glancing back at the puddles of water we were leaving as we walked back through the hallways of my house.

"If you insist, then by all means," I shrugged. The more prominent thing on my mind was that of Merlin on the ground, bent over cleaning. "It really doesn't matter. To me, anyways."

"I just feel bad, leaving such a mess."

"Don't. Our servants are paid, it's what they were hired to do," I reasoned.

"I don't think most people have maids to mop up every mess they make. I certainly don't."

"Well, for good reason. You'd probably scare any possible servants away, with the state your room would be in."

"I'll have you know my room isn't _that _bad," Merlin laughed, a warm, ringing sound.

The adorned passage curved to the right, clean, uncarpeted marble stairs popping into view.

"Up here," I stated, "Oh, and m sure your room is terrible. You can't keep the simple bottom of my locker clean."

"Ah, but you volunteered, mate!"

"Yes, and I regret it now. Get your own locker."

The stairs led to the simply carpeted second floor, but that wasn't the destination. The third floor housed the bedrooms and guest parlors, while the second floor was mainly the study.

"Don't tell me your room is the size of that pool," Merlin scoffed.

"Fair guess."

"No, really?"

I looked over at him, trying to keep a straight face.

"A little bigger than that size. Aren't all bedrooms that large?"

"No."

I shrugged, turning away to sneak a smile, faking a nonchalant glance out the window to the left.

"...Larger than your pool? Seriously?"

"I can't believe you don't have a pool sized bedroom, _really_ Merlin." I turned back to him with a well-practiced serious expression.

"You're messing with me, aren't you?" Merlin smiled (again with that smile), his charm overpowering my self control, so that I lost my exterior and grinned just as wide.

"When don't I? It's just so easy."

"You're such a prat."

"Do I really need to reply with 'you're an idiot' anymore? It's almost subtext now..." I let out a small laugh, feeling a pleasantly familiar warmth deep in my chest. He was just so perfect in every way; it was almost unfair that he would appear in my life, just for me to work so hard to get what I wanted. From him. Not that it was sex, but…a true friendship? It's hard to differentiate between the two concepts at this point. Why can't things be simpler?

Great. Now I'm starting to feel shitty for some reason.

"Really, though, if your room is that big…" Merlin cut into my thoughts, as he so easily did. A smile flickered across my face, just to reassure both him and myself that I was fine. He hadn't noticed, surely, that the smile had disappeared for a moment.

Again, this was so much more complicated than it needed to be. I shouldn't have to worry about stupid shit like if he notices a drop in my mood.

"Gwaine has a pretty big house too, you know," I said, attempting to add to the conversation in the most casual manner.

"Really, now? He doesn't seem like the type."

"His father's some representative in the government or something. He doesn't really talk about it, but yeah; don't think I'm the only one with an impressive house."

"It's not like I think any lower of you," Merlin said, the tone in his voice changing.

"I didn't say that you did." I cleared my throat, sensing it was probably appropriate to change the subject. "Aren't you cold?"

"A bit."

I glanced over at my friend, in his dripping boxers, the white towel embellished with a 'P' wrapped around his shoulders.

Giving him an unconscious up-and-down, I quickly looked away again before he noticed.

_Don't leer at him, stupid._

"I can get you some clothes in a minute, my room's right here."

My feet had taken me to it out of habit, Merlin following the whole while. I opened the impressive oak door with practiced ease, swinging it inwards and walking inside.

Of course it wasn't the size of the Olympic pool; that would be ridiculous. It was still rather large for most standards, probably.

"Bloody hell, it _is_ huge."

"Do you want to shower, or anything?"

"Oh, no, that's all right. I can shower later."

_Damnit. Was really looking forward to that._

"I'll get you some clothes then…"

"Seriously, your bed could hold an elephant."

"It's king size, not elephant size."

"I only have a double!"

"Well I need my space."

"You have _too much_ space."

I walked to the large dresser on the left side of my room. Unlike the rest of the house, my room really wasn't plastered with unique rugs and ornaments lining the walls on pedestals. No; it was my bed in the center of the room, my dresser and washroom on the left; the telly, and untouched desk with a selection of books to the right. Straight forward, and to the right of my bed, was a window with drab red curtains. I'd never bothered to replace them.

Merlin fell backwards onto my bed with a bounce, standing back up again quickly as he realized he was still wet.

"Do you have another towel? This one's useless."

I pointed to the loo, taking my own towel off in the same fluid motion to throw to the floor. I opened the second drawer to my dresser, looking for an old shirt that was too small for me. Really, Merlin might be a smudge taller, but I was by far better built, and at least a couple sizes bigger.

"Well, you're messy."

"Shut up, I'm trying to find you some clothes."

Merlin walked past me to the washroom, folding his soaked towel neatly and dropping it into the bath.

Then he followed his neat-freak act with turning around and knocking over my stack of soaps.

The clatter of bottles made me turn, eyebrows raised.

"Smooth going. I thought you were trying to be all clean and shit."

"I, uh, yeah." He nearly slipped on the wet tile, propping himself on the counter while he bent to pick up the soaps, red with embarrassment.

Time to ogle shamelessly at his arse. Or, more properly put, I took the time to watch him pick up the expensive bottles of soap, placing them in an attempt at neatness back onto the counter next to the sink.

_He has such nice skin. _That, of course, was obvious seeing as his entire back and legs were exposed now, unhindered by an imprudently obstructive towel.

"Do you really need all these?" Merlin eyed the colorful soaps, most of them back where they were supposed to go.

"You wouldn't understand, of course." I picked out an old striped collar shirt and a pair of dark boxers to replace Merlin's soaked ones. Closing the drawer again, I held out the dry clothes to him. "Do you need anything else? Freeloader?"

"Fine, thanks." He rolled his eyes, grabbing the fabrics and slamming the washroom door shut in my face.

"Bloody nice way to say 'thank you'."

"I already said thank you. Do you really need it again?" I could hear him shrug off his wet clothes, and shuffle to pull on the clean ones. I leaned against the door to the loo with my forearm, smiling even though he couldn't see.

"Thanks are really all I get in return for my generous hospitality."

"I'm surprised you know what 'hospitality' means."

"Fuck well off, _Merlin_, I'm not that idiotic."

"How many times do _I _have to say it? You're the prat, I'm the idiot."

"Aren't your trousers still wet?" I hoped to stall for time as I stripped of my itchy wet boxers quickly, grabbing for another pair.

"They're dryer than my shirt is." I hopped into clean trousers, fastening the button, not bothering with a shirt because, well…

"I don't trust you're ever going to give me my clothes back."

"You have too many as it is!"

…maybe I wanted to appeal to him? Does that work with other guys?

"This shirt is ugly as hell."

"It's just plaid."

"I _hate plaid._"

"Blue suits you. It matches your eyes."

That technique worked perfectly with women. A guy take their shirt off, and suddenly there's a 200% greater chance that some girl will sleep with him.

"Give me another one."

"What was that?"

Wait, those types of girls are just slags. Merlin's not a slag.

"…please? Can you lend me a shirt that's not repulsive?"

Fuck my logic.

"Fine. Open the door." Merlin opened the door, throwing the striped shirt in my face.

"I understand why you never wore this. It's hideous."

I tossed the shirt on top of my dresser, giving him a monotonous stare.

"Try this one, then, if you're so picky."

"I'm not, usually, I just hate bloody plaid." He took the next blue shirt I could find form my hand, a t-shirt with no plaid. Merlin fit his arms through the holes, shrugging it on and buttoning it quickly. All that fair skin was gone…

Damn, why hadn't I just pretended that I had burned all my shirts, or something?

"Maths?"

"What?"

"I was going help you with todays' lesson."

"Oh, yeah."

My heart dropped a little as Merlin didn't even comment that I wasn't wearing a shirt. No joke, no recognition, no anything. I grabbed a simple white polo in defeat, pulling it over my head.

"Do you have your book?"

"Why would I have it?"

"Because it's one of your classes?" Merlin grinned, jumping back onto my bed again, finally able to relax since he wasn't sopping wet anymore.

"Probably somewhere." I stepped quickly to my desk, thankful to do something other than stand uncomfortably next to my friend who was now lounging on my bed. And, for the first time in a while, I was nervous. No sex for me. Wait, when did sex ever get on the table?

Oh, that's right, sex just jumped onto the bed, and was now sitting up against the headboard like he owned the place.

"It's somewhere here. I never use this desk." I shuffled through the contents of my desk, halfheartedly looking for the maths textbook I never use. "Don't you have yours?"

"I, uh, left it in your car…"

"Well, fuck that, I'm not going back down to the driveway to get a goddamn textbook."

"And you'll never find it in that mountain of rubbish," Merlin pointed out, obviously unimpressed by my organization skills. I hadn't touched the desk in years; I just piled loose sheets of paper and textbooks onto it, waiting for the dreaded day I had to dig through it all.

"Whatever. Maths is wank anyways." I dropped the stack of books I was holding back onto the wood with a thud, kicking a couple stray papers back under the desk.

I turned back to my friend, who was now lounging contentedly on the classic red-gold comforter that made up my bed.

"So. How's taking advantage of Arthur Pendragon coming?" I remarked.

"Quite well, thank you."

I rolled my eyes, walking over to the bed to sit down on the opposite side.

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The rest of the evening, from about four in the afternoon to six, was really quite uneventful. It was the usual trying to admire Merlin's features without him noticing, and the stupid jokes he would make, that I would have to make a clever reply to. Merlin's hair had dried all funny, so it stuck out in random directions and gave off a sex-hair aura. Not that we had done anything.

Then I had to drive him home…the same types of conversations. Those conversations, as always, weren't without the subtext of "oh Merlin, why can't I just pull over on the side of the road and fuck you right now", and then "damnit, that's right, cause I'm trying to prevent you from leaving me" sort of thing. His house was probably a fourth the size of mine; no wonder Merlin had acted like a kid given candy when he visited.

At least it went better than expected; Merlin didn't find out that I was madly falling for him, and I got more than one good look at his arse.

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**A/N: Don't worry, I'll try to speed things up a bit in the next couple chapters. Fluff plot/filler chapters ahead, you guys have waited long enough ;) I have a ton of new ideas.  
Thank you so much for the reviews! Don't be shy, I love anything you have to say ;u;**


	7. Conflict

**A/N: I was working on this chapter, and it turned out to be about 6,000 words. So im splitting it up into two chapters. Hope you like this one, and i'm uploading the second one tomorrow! Just a heads up, this one is the longer bit.**

**Happy holidays! Hopefully i'll be able to work more over winter break. Uggh it was finals week and i haven't gotten much sleep ;_;  
Thank you so much for the follows/faves/reviews! You guys are so great (': Enjoi!**

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After I got back home and parked the car in the garage, I retired back up to my room, flopping down on the bed. The brunette lived in a temporary flat on the far side of town, at least a half-hour drive from my house, and I was exhausted. He became all embarrassed when I insisted on dropping him off in my white Maserati right at the front, against Merlin's suggestion that I drop him off a couple blocks away. Arguing that his room was indeed messy like I had said, he refused to let me walk him upstairs. He said goodbye with a laugh, and I saw him double over when I revved my engine as I left. Though I didn't get to see the inside of his flat, it didn't take away from the fact that I had had Merlin to myself for an entire day.

"Ding, dong…"

I turned my head right when I heard a doorbell ring, raising an eyebrow. The strange thing was, the clear metallic noise was coming from the closet, not a faint chime from downstairs. When had a doorbell been installed in my room, much less my closet?

Getting up off of my bed, I walked to that white door next to my dresser and opened it quickly.

"Hi!" It was Merlin, for some reason dressed in the most stereotypical nerd clothes possible. His hair was messy, face framed with glasses, brought together with a white polo shirt and a fucking bowtie.

_'Didn't I just take you home?'_, I tried to say, but it only registered as a thought.

"I'm here to tutor you today. Did you forget again?"

I shrugged; at least I could move. For some reason, though, I couldn't speak. My mouth wouldn't move, and no words came out, but Merlin seemed to get the gist of what I wanted, and came inside. He put a maths textbook he had been carrying on my side table that was absurdly thick. He saw my look of disgust at the textbook, and with a lovely ringing laugh, the brunette sat down cross-legged on my bed. Just like he had this afternoon.

"So, what do you want to do today?" He looked up at me with big, blue eyes behind those thick-rimmed glasses, sitting so poised on my bed. It made me completely forget how weird it was that he was back. "Whatever you'd like is fine with me. You always have the best ideas, Arthur." I think I have a nerd fetish.

"Maths aren't even important. I just came here to see you." Or just a Merlin-in-glasses fetish. Either way, I felt my face—as well as other places—grow hotter as Merlin undid his comical bowtie with a heavy, ridiculously overdrawn sigh. He tossed it away, unbuttoning his shirt without a second thought.

"You know, it's really hot in here. You should get better air conditioning; you have the money for it, rich prat." It was as if Merlin's real personality shone through the submissive one for a second. Somehow, that turned me on even further. I just watched as he undressed himself, one measly article of clothing at a time. The clothes seemed to disappear after he took them off, as if he hadn't even been wearing them at all in the first place. As if he just appeared on my bed nearly naked.

I suddenly realized that I was on the bed with him, helping Merlin out of his trousers. When I had jumped on the bed, I didn't know; I was just pleased I had.

Now he was only clad in undergarments. The lanky boy wrapped his arms around my neck with no warning, pulling me into him to lie down on the bed. I could feel his feet still attired in knee-high socks rub against my legs, a tinny moan escape from his lips. Oh wow. Of course I didn't protest against it, not that I would even if I had the ability to speak. By some means words still wouldn't come out of my mouth, but Merlin seemed to hear what I thought. Right now, that was simply '_Merlin I'm going to have you for my own'._

And it definitely seemed that Merlin was thinking along the same lines, as he wound his fingers into my hair, and pulled me onto his lips with another excessive moan. I kissed back as my hands held me upright, as not to completely fall on top of the skinny boy. This had escalated in an unreasonable but nonetheless pleasing manner. Merlin didn't bother to waste time in rocking his hips upward against me, almost selfish in the way that he started to gasp in filthily large extents into my mouth.

"A-Arthur," he whimpered, and I replied with the action of running my hand down his leg, slipping my fingers under the seam of his high socks. Wow it felt good to hear him say my name like that. Merlin's thick-rimmed The glasses fell askew as he tried to snog me, and angling his head to the side didn't help much. Amusing as it was to see Merlin unproductively fix the problem, I ended up sitting up and taking off the frames with care. Merlin took them from me, as I adjusted my position puzzle-pieced against him.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked, lining the ridges on my collarbone with the tip of his glasses. I copied him with my fingers, tracing the edge of his undergarments, and tilted my head in indication for him to continue.

"Do you fancy me?"

I nodded fervently, pecking his neck in validation.

"Do you love me?" Merlin went on to ask, growing red in embarrassment, and fiddling with the frames he held gingerly in his hands.

I beamed at him, nodding slower this time, and kissing him now on the lips. _'You have no idea'_, I would have said, moving my mouth against his.

Unexpectedly, he pulled away first, as if something was wrong. I attempted to ask, but couldn't.

"…Why won't you tell me then?" Merlin was still smiling, but it was a sad one.

_'I'm trying,' _I thought, but I knew he couldn't hear me. He was just waiting for me to say something, and it pained me. I pecked him again, trying to show him instead of speaking. Though he kissed back, Merlin still looked sad.

'_I love you, I love you, I love you…'_

"Why won't you say anything?"

My heart dropped, and I tried yet again, kissing him harder, pressing my tongue against his lips in exasperation.

_'I love you, I really love you…'_

"Arthur—"

"Merlin—!"

I jolted upwards, panting, cold and confused and alone.  
Supporting myself with my hands, I was facing the bed, as I had been when interlocked with Merlin. It was dark, besides the glow from the alarm clock. Blinking several times, my eyes adjusted to make out the time 2:16 AM shaped in bright green light.

It was a dream.

I let out a snarl of frustration, collapsing onto my pillow. I felt uneasily shaken, my heart beating fast against the soft mattress.

It scared me. Feeling Merlin under me was amazing, but—how I wasn't able to speak, and Merlin's lack of trust in me, was disheartening. His disappointment just seemed so real. People always say that dreams have deeper meanings; I had a sickening feeling that I knew what this one meant.

I needed to do something soon, or this anxiety over Merlin was going to be the death of me. Though not literally, I couldn't let this sit for much longer.

Which was funny, because I love him so goddamn much.

I chuckled darkly into my pillow, with such an obvious lack of humor that I sounded miserable.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

We were sitting in science a couple days after Merlin had visited me, on a well-awaited Friday. The three of us concentrating on anything other than the experiment in progress, as usual. Well, at least Lance was trying to focus on whatever we were supposed to do with the test tubes and chemicals set warily around us. That didn't go as well for me or Gwaine. This time the conversation unfortunately was about me, not some other gossip.

"It's none of your business," I was complaining. "Nothing happened, anyways."

"Of _course_ nothing happened when he went over."

"It's not your job to bother me about my life."

"Shut well up, it's my job to counsel you in times such as these." Gwaine had been bothering me about what had happened over at my place for the past couple days. It was getting absurd. "Is that line from a film, or something?"

"No, I made it up."

"Alright," I groaned, giving in. "But I swear, nothing happened." "Well?" Gwaine sat like an excited little girl who had gotten what she'd wanted, kicking his feet back and forth while sitting on the stool. "What stupid things did you do this time?"

I ignored his comment, "Nothing really happened, honest. I mean, he kind of taught me to swim, and—"

"Hold on." Gwaine had a goofy smile plastered on his smug face. "You finally gave in to learning how to swim?"

"So? H-"

"Christ, he must have worked hard to get stubborn to agree," Lance chimed in.

"Whatever." I rubbed the back of my neck, continuing. "And then I let him borrow some clothes, and we didn't study, the end."

"Really?"

"Yeah. That was it."

"Huh." Gwaine smirked suddenly. "You were both half naked, though. SWIMMING, MY ARSE."

"I wish there was more to say, but there's not."

Gwaine sighed, glancing around the room boredly. "Well then, you'd better start that 'make Merlin swoon' plan."

"Is this an actual plan now?" Lance asked with a sunny laugh.

"More of just an outline, but we all know the end goal," Gwaine flashed me a grin.

"Lance, you probably know..." I started, then looked away and cleared my throat to cut myself off.

"Hm?"

"Nevermind."

"No, really, at this point I want to know."

"I'm never going to say this again, so savor it," I grimaced, already regretting saying anything as Gwaine's features perked.

"You...probably know more about 'relationships' than I do. I mean, I haven't been able to hold a steady one since…forever."

"That's true enough," Lance grinned. He was dubbed the pretty-and-perfect boy, for obvious reasons. Lance was, by regard of the girls he'd dated, the perfect boyfriend; I'd like to think that I could hold that title, but even I recognized that the thought was ridiculous.

"So...help?" I was glaring at the empty test tube to the right of my friend, sure that it would crack and break in any second. It took a ton of effort to force that out. I can't remember the last time I'd asked for help on my personal life from my friends; Merlin tutoring me was a different matter.

"Ah! I was wondering when you would ask, mate!" Gwaine cut in, looking satisfied, tapping his fingers on the table. "You've come to the right man. Firstly; make it seem like she's— err, he's special. Not just unique, but really special, but not in a totally obvious way."

"I asked Lance."

"Ah, but Lance doesn't know how to work magic known as _charm_," Gwaine said, his head on his hands, elbows on the countertop. His wild hair was somehow pulled back into a small ponytail; but somehow, he did seem a bit _charming_ as he called it. Gwaine was friendly and bright.

The passive man Lance was, he shrugged and smiled at Gwaine with encouragement.

"So I can't just try to charm him?"

"Here's your flaw," Gwaine started, setting his hands down on the countertop with an air of authority. "You want to make everything about yourself. You're egotistical."

"No I'm—" the bell rang, and we still hadn't gotten anything done. Not that we'd planned to. I grabbed my bag filled with items I hadn't used yet today, pulling it over my shoulder. We had lunch break after that class, conveniently, so Gwaine and I continued arguing as we walked back to my locker on instinct, Lance trailing awkwardly behind us and staying out of the conversation.

"I'm not egotistical."

"Yes, you are. The first stage is denial, the second stage acceptance, and then you have to work on changing it."

"What makes you think that?"

"Everything you do! You have to live up to it eventually!"

"And you're not a narcissistic little bitch either."

"Oy, Merlin!" Gwaine barked, and I jumped as an all too familiar face appeared next to us. It was our locker, after all; why wouldn't Merlin be here? He smiled widely at me, books for history under one arm. Gwaine got to him before I could say hello.

"Isn't Arthur a complete prick?"

"Oh, yeah." Merlin said without hesitation, a ring of mockery in his voice. "I could go on for days."

"Thanks," I drawled. "Come on, Gwaine, we have matters to discuss."

"What about?" Merlin started, and my shorter friend answered before I had to think of some excuse to keep Merlin out knowing our conversation even existed.

"Sorry, Merles, gotta study on that chem final. You two would distract each other," Gwaine said quickly. "Don't you have a certain girl to get to?"

_What? _

"Oh, yeah..." Merlin blushed a smudge, shifting his weight back and forth. "I almost forgot. I'm supposed to sit with her on the bleachers today. How did you know?"

_Wait—what the fuck? _

"Nevermind that, you should get going!" Gwaine regretted his choice of topic, even if it was to distract Merlin from coming to sit with us.

"Wh- Merlin...?" Gwaine pulled me away before I could ask any questions.

"Bad call, Gwaine…" Lance hissed.

"Bye! Have fun with whatsername!" He and Lance dragged me in the direction of the cafeteria. I let them guide me, uncharacteristically compliant. Gwaine brought me to the table where some friends already sat waiting, trays with less-than-par food in hand.

"Where's Merlin?" Elyan asked, no doubt rearing up for another joke.

"With his girlfriend," I blanched, my voice stale and dead sounding. Lance looked at Gwaine, but they didn't appear shocked. My friends sat me down easy, Gwaine sitting on my left and passing his homemade sloppily-put-together sandwich as comfort. Lance sat on my right.

"Arthur, she's not his _girlfriend_," Gwaine sympathized, patting me on the back. "She's new. Merles has a couple classes with her that you don't, so they hang out."

"How come I didn't know?" I said, stony faced. "Why didn't you tell me Merlin had a girlfriend?"

"Lover boy, Merlin is perfectly single!"

"Yeah, mate...you're still in the game." Lance commented.

"Who's she?" I bit dully into Gwaine's sandwich, chewing slowly, speaking through the bread and ham."How th' fug do I not know her? I'm Arthur Pendragon."

"She's new here," Leon answered from across the table. "I don't really know her name. She's only been here a couple days, but she's nice enough."

"But Leon thinks everyone's nice," Gwaine cut in. "She really doesn't stand a chance against you."

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Leon corrected himself. "She's nice, but no doubt you're better."

Everyone was looking at me with disgustingly pitiful eyes.

"Of course. What does that bitch have above me?" It was a rhetorical question, trying to get them off my back. The answer, no matter the context, was always 'nothing'.

"But...you should probably get a move on," Percival shrugged reasonably.

"Having some trouble with your girlfriend?" a familiarly disgusting voice announced. I didn't even bother to turn around to address Cenred.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," I drawled, uninterested in anything Cenred had to say to irritate me.

"Oh, I just heard that some girl beat you to the punch."

"That isn't your problem."

"Just bugger off?" Leon tried, to no avail. He was sitting across from me, so could actually talk directly to Cenred, while I had my back to him.

"If the only reason that you're here is to annoy us, then might as well just leave. I don't need you telling me what to do, so fuck off."

"You've got to keep a tighter grip on that little whore, if you ask me," Cenred chuckled, before I heard the tap of him walking away. I felt my usual pride seep back into me from that confrontation.

"You know what? She can't steal him from me. I've worked too hard." I stood up, sandwich forgotten. "I'm going to go take him back right now."

"Whoa, whoa whoa wait a second..." Lance caught my arm and pulled me back down into my seat. He stuffed the sandwich back into my hands, keeping a firm grip on my shoulder. "He'll hate you if you do that."

"Why? I'm obviously better than 'she' is; now I've got to go and establish that. Re-establish."

"See, this is what I was talking about," Gwaine sighed.

"Arthur, you can't just go parading around on other people's feelings. Well, not all the time," Elyan said with a smile.

"What the bloody hell do you mean by that?!" I seethed. I wasn't selfish. I wasn't arrogant. And I definitely wasn't in need of some kind of intervention. Elyan looked to Gwaine, then Lance, and then back to me, asking for help.

"You can't simply force Merlin to…love… you," Lance reasoned. "You need to win him over if it gets to the point of choosing you or the girl."

"I chose him, not the other way around," I stated simply. "That should be fucking well enough. Merlin should—" I cut myself off, taking another angry bite of the sandwich. The air around the table sunk with heavy tension. Gwaine took a deep breath, trying to get through to me.

"I'm giving you help, as you asked..." I didn't respond, a cold, guilty feeling starting to rise in my stomach.

"You've got to make it obvious that they're worth it. Not the other way around."

"...Like?"

"Give him compliments?" Percival suggested.

"Invite him to your house again."

"Give him a good suck."

"I don't think he'll pay into that," Lance almost laughed.

"Well, you've got to get a move on, either way," Elyan looked around, making sure far too late that no potential gossipers were around. It was almost funny, because people wouldn't bother to listen in anyways. They would all think that the football team talks about hot girls they would shag, and the rivalries between schools. Not today.

"He's a guy, not a girl," Lance reminded them. "And smarter than you think. I don't..."

"Screw your advice," I sighed. "I'll figure it out. And get rid of that girl, whoever she is."

"Do you know how _loud_ you lot are being?" I looked behind me to see an amused Morgana, seemingly finished with her food already. She, Gwen, and some other girls usually sat apart from us, but apparently she had stopped by to visit.

"Who cares?"

"Well, the whole school will if you keep up. I mean, at first I thought it was one of your usual arguments, and then Cenred dropped by…"

"What do you want?" I sighed. Morgana was one to offer advice at times like these; she had the tendency to get into other people's business. However, it seemed to pay off in the end, dependent on the circumstance. I assumed that she wanted to shove some guidance onto me just as the rest of my friends had done.

"I just want to help. You look rather distressed."

"I don't need your pity."

"Her name's Freya, by the way."

"Freya, huh? That's a silly name."

"So is 'Merlin'."

"I've pointed that out to him." I turned around in my seat so I could face Morgana, now actually interested. "Do you think that he'll actually go for her?"

"Well, they are eating together."

"I've heard," I glanced at Gwaine, who shrugged.

"You don't want to ruin your friendship, do you? It's better, I think, to let them run their course," Morgana reasoned. Oh, she's taking _that_ side. "Look, what if Merlin truly fancies her? Don't you want him to be happy?"

"He's happy with _me_."

"Arthur, I love you and I want what's best for you, but you know what will happen if Merlin rejects you?"

"They've known each other for a couple days! How can that be _healthy_?" I practically shouted at her, ignoring her reasoning.

"You've only known him for a couple weeks!"

"It's been over a month. Shut up."

"I'm sorry, it's just—"

"Just shut up, Morgana."

"Freya isn't an obstacle. She's a person. You have to at least give her a chance."

_Fucking hell._

"Calm down…" Lance mumbled, though he didn't seem to support either argument.

"Don't tell me to calm down." I ran my fingers through my hair, now very disordered and overflowing with emotions. I didn't know what to think, much less what to do. Relationships were complicated, but they weren't supposed to be _this_ complicated.

"Arthur, don't do anything stupid," Morgana said. She rubbed my shoulder in some form of comfort before leaving in the direction of the courtyard.

It was quiet for a minute or so, so that we could hear the conversations happening at other tables. Surprisingly, no one had really stopped to watch or listen to our argument. It was better that way.

"If you really fancy him that much, then don't do anything rash," Lance patted my shoulder. "Just give it time. Morgana is right."

I didn't have any time. Last night had taught me well enough.

"I'll see you later," I mumbled to the general table, getting up to leave. On second thought, I grabbed the rest of Gwaine's sandwich, along with my schoolbag. I could feel the eyes of my friends on my back as I left, contemplating whether to stop me or not. Apparently they decided not to.


	8. Plot: Minor Resolutions

**A/N: As promised. I'll have time to work on the next chapter over break! Thanks for sticking with me, and hope you enjoy! R&R, thanks a bunch!**

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God help anyone who I had run into as I left the commons. Anyone who even came within a foot was shoved away without a second thought, like flies.

This was impossible. I couldn't do this anymore; just sit back and try to let things happen. See if Merlin really had any interest in me. Because as far as I knew at this point, now he had a goddamn girlfriend and I was just another friend in the background now. I thought I had everything under control; I thought I might be able to actually move forward. Take a step forward instead of two back. But now, it looked like I had taken a major fall backwards and had landed on a giant clusterfuck of thorns instead.

I exhaled sharply, shifting my bag over my shoulder. I took another bite of Gwaine's sandwich, now colder than it had been, the bread somewhat soggy from the mayonnaise. I don't even like mayonnaise, that's how anxious I was. I carefully wrapped it up in the napkin that had been folded around the sandwich, stuffing the food into my bag to give it back to Gwaine later.

I would have just left school at this point, if there hadn't been the threat of Freya having even more time with Merlin. So instead I waited in the washroom for the bell for the next class to chime, slumping against the wall and pulling out my phone. Not that I had anyone to talk to; I scrolled through my contacts and tried to trick myself into thinking I was actually doing something productive rather than sitting alone.

Soon the endless clicking got boring, and I preoccupied myself with was in my bag. Just scraps of practically unused paper and the textbook for History; there were a couple pencils with the erasers missing, and my bundle of electronics were at the bottom. Oh well, it's not as if I was going to find anything out of the ordinary anyways. I untangled my ear buds, plugging them into my phone and clicking shuffle.  
I guess you could say I fell into a stupor of emotion as I sat there on the cold floor, against the wall opposite the sinks.

On the one hand, I could just follow my instinct and go tell that Freya slag off, and take Merlin back for my own. It was what she deserved; she didn't know that she was walking in on our 'relationship', whatever it was going to turn out to be. She was in the way nonetheless, and it bothered me that she even stepped into the picture. Freya had no right. She had popped up out of nowhere, in the past couple days, and unknowingly by me had snatched Merlin out from under my nose. Just as I thought I had been making some progress, it's just one step forward and three steps back as this girl decides to become an obstacle.

Then again, everyone said good things about her. Even if she was in the way, an obstacle and a thief, she probably wasn't being discourteous on purpose. I could wait it out. See what Freya is like, and decide whether it's best for…

_Fuck._

No, I wasn't getting into this. Whatever. I didn't even know what to think anymore, _how_ to think about this. I'd lost my sense to figure out what to do anymore. Usually it was just; bam, decision. No regrets, and no terrible consequences. Not in this case. I honestly didn't know what to do, for the first time in my life.

"Arthur?"

I looked sharply right to the direction of the door as I heard someone walk in and address me. Flinching as my neck cricked, it clicked to me as I was rubbing my collar that Merlin was standing there.

"Oh, hey." I tried to keep my hello as simple as possible as to hide the mess of emotions that had decided to return with a vengeance.

"What are you doing in here? You missed the period."

"What?" I shrugged one earbud out so it landed on my shoulder, wondering if I heard him right.

"You missed history, mate."

"Oh." Time passes quickly when you don't know what to do about feelings for certain brunettes.

"The whole damn lecture. Leon and I had to sit through the torture on our own!" He laughed, sensing my edginess with apprehension.

"Lost track of time, I guess."

Merlin exhaled noisily, giving me his trademark expression that read 'what will I ever do with you', and sat down next to me against the neatly tiled wall. He shifted his bag off of his shoulder, stretching his legs out in front of him, while I sat with my hands resting on my bent knees.

"…Are you okay?" he asked quietly, testing the waters.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, you're sitting in the loo, alone…"

"Tired."

"Of what?"

"Just worn out, you know. Practice yesterday was brutal." The answer that I hadn't bothered to actually say was somewhat different. A lot more than somewhat, actually.

"I missed that practice," Merlin commented; just an afterthought. A bloody side note. But of course to me it lit a fuse that was just dying to spark.

"Oh, it's _really_ not a big deal. You just had better things to do, right?"

"It wasn't better, I had to go meet someone."

"Ah, Freya, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Merlin said with an obnoxious grin. "She's a lot like me! Have you met her yet?"

"Well I've heard enough about _Freya_."

"Oh, Arthur, oh…" he looked pained. I bet I did too, because slowly but surely Merlin had shown me that I wear my heart on my sleeve at the worst of times. "Is that what you're upset about? Me missing your practice?"

"Who said I was upset?"

"Well, Leon—"

"Ah. Leon, that prick."

"Arthur—"

"No, just shut up, Merlin. Of course I'm not angry about the practice," I scoffed.

I was damn well tired of this bullshit. What I thought was going to come out of those lips wasn't '_oh, Arthur dear, did you want me to come watch you play football?_'. No, what I thought—no, hoped at this point—was for Merlin to fucking realize that I fancied him. For Merlin to say,  
'_Oh, I'm so sorry that I missed your practice to be with some _girl_ Arthur. That slag doesn't mean anything to me. I would much rather watch you sweat and show off just to impress me than lock lips with a damn _nobody_, Arthur.  
_And then I wanted him to grab my collar and lock lips with _me_.

Me.

"So," I snarled, mocking him for his sweet, innocent tone. "Snogging yet?"

Merlin looked so confused. It was terrible to watch his features change so suddenly, from that casual smile to hurt and shocked.

"W-what?"

"Oh, you know what I mean," I drawled. "That girlfriend of yours. How are you two coming along?" I shifted against my seat against the wall, avoiding his eyes.

"I don't have a girlfriend, Arthur. What are you going on about?"

"Freya."

"Freya isn't my girlfriend!"

"Well than what is she to you, _Mer_lin?"

"Why do you care so much?!" Merlin choked, taken aback by my incessant anger. "She's my friend. You're starting that whole 'overprotective' bullshit again!"

I didn't reply to that. Whatever I would have said would be a blatant lie, because he was right, a_gain_, that I was being overprotective and I really didn't have the right. I didn't want to go through that conversation again. So I leaned my head back against the tile, looking blankly at him, drained and tired of how pathetically naïve he seemed. Merlin stared right back for a moment, but quickly lost his audacity and turned away.

He didn't have any signs of kisses on him; that was well enough. No crass glossy marks of makeup or lipstick smeared on his face. His skin was clear of all that. His clothes were in order, Merlin's face free of that ridiculous post-snogging glow.  
But somehow I still couldn't get it through my mind that Merlin and Freya weren't just friends.  
Call me a defeatist if you'd like. At least I didn't show that insecurity on the outside. I kept my weaknesses to myself, portraying an unreasonably self-assured exterior, and I will never admit that to anyone else.

He still didn't get it. What would I have to do to get Merlin to understand? Had he even considered the possibility that I was overprotective because I fancied him?

"You have to be doing this on purpose," I mumbled to myself, though aware that Merlin could hear me. He turned back to me again, making up his mind to ask me even though he was still upset.

"What?"

I didn't answer, furrowing my brows and making up my mind. I didn't have much to lose at this point.

"Look at me for a second," I tried. Appreciating that I was calm, Merlin complied, though with a curious expression.

"…Yeah?"

_Taking a breath, I leaned forward and gripped Merlin's lapel, pulling him onto my lips.  
Finally.  
And Merlin kissed back after a couple seconds, after the shock and recognition passed. He applied a tentatively slight pressure against my mouth that seemed so like him to do._

"Arthur, what are you doing?" Merlin asked, making a face at the fact that I had been staring at him for quite some time now, leaning quite close.

"You should wear glasses."

"What?"

"Nothing." I quickly tried and failed to rid the other night's dream from my head, feeling my face warm. "I just think you could wear glasses rather well."

"Ah." Merlin blushed, either uncomfortable with the proximity, or the awkward comment. "Are we going to get out of here, now? Sitting around in the loo wasn't really on my list of things to do."

"Would you like to skip the rest of the day with me?"

Merlin blinked in surprise. I'm sure he expected for me to agree, and get up to walk back to class. Of course not.

"You mean school?"

"Yeah, what else, idiot?"

Merlin laughed, which in turn made me smile, despite the circumstances.

"Club?" I shrugged. "Anywhere but here."

"It's the middle of the day, Arthur."

"Come on, it's a Friday. Knowing you, you need plans for tonight, Merlin," I reasoned.

The brunette gave a shrug, licking his lips in contemplation. My heart skipped a beat that he was sincerely considering my offer. Maybe I wouldn't have to convince him; perhaps Merlin would actually want to go clubbing with me. Maybe this would turn out more interesting than just an excuse to get out of school. I thought about the possibilities, some incredibly racy possibilities, of going out drinking with him. It never even occurred to me that Merlin would be all right with drinking in the first place. This would be quite better than I originally thought.

"So?" I inquired, fishing for a 'sure' or even a 'fuck yes'.

"Why not," Merlin grinned, shifting his feet underneath him so he could stand up. He grabbed his bag, and I followed suit.

I wondered for a second if I should tell Gwaine or Lance about what I was going to do tonight. But that moment passed quickly, and I made up my mind that this would be just Merlin and I tonight. This would happen tonight, one way or the other.


	9. Cue Shitty Pop Soundtrack

**A/N: Sorry about the wait D: just like before though, i split this chapter into two parts cause it was too long. I'll upload the counterpart tomorrow or friday! Forgive the time skips during the chapter; i didn't feel like writing every single detail. Enjoy, nonetheless, R&R! Thanks for waiting, again :')**

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We had snuck out of the school without an issue. It was during passing period, when people were running to their next classes; it's not like we were out of place. Merlin was smiling the entire time, so it struck me that he probably hadn't done something like this before. He was excited and it was because of me, so I was smiling the entire time as well. _That _probably stood out more than us exiting the doors and escaping from school; both of us trying to keep our smiles less obvious, trying hard not to laugh. Because Merlin always made me happy, even the little things like that.  
Of course, though, the kid protested of going out straight away. It was apparently absurd and stupid to go drinking in the afternoon, as we would be too early and bars get boring after a couple hours. So we had gone out to a coffee shop of all places to waste a couple hours. Not a famous one like Starbucks, but a local one that I hadn't really caught the name of yet. I hadn't even bothered to read the sign; Merlin just gave me directions and I drove there.

The coffee shop wasn't that far from the school; it seemed close to where I had dropped him off at his flat the other night. The place was inbetween a furniture shop and an old-fashioned looking pizza store. Talk about location. But as much as I had against the small coffee shop for standing in my way of clubbing with Merlin, it had its compensations. There was a set of chairs and a table delicately set out front, and when you entered, a welcoming warmth seemed to wash over you. We sat down in the back corner of the shop, away from the blabbering couples and businessmen typing away at their computers. I had ordered a white mocha, which was appropriate as we were in a coffee shop. Unsurprisingly enough, Merlin had bought a cookie and a small peppermint coffee, setting aside the actual drink and unwrapping the treat instead.

"They already have peppermint coffee, huh?" I commented, taking a sip of my hot drink. "It's not even past Halloween yet."

"It's the food that's better than the drinks here, to be honest. The drinks could be better." Merlin savored the cute sprinkles on the white-frosted cookie for a moment, before biting off a corner. I watched him eat it, little crumbs of the frosting lining his lips. "These are the best." He took another small bite, wanting to make the cookie last as long as possible. My fingers twitched as he took another bite of his treat, a crumb or two lingering on the side of his mouth, urging to wipe them off. It took strength not to, to hold my hands steady, the flakes of white frosting budging at my nerves. I stuffed them in my pockets hastily, not taking any chances, for fear of my hands acting on their own. Merlin managed to realize why I was staring so intently at his face, and pulled down his sleeve into his hand, wiping the crumbs off his face. I relaxed a bit, looking away.

"That's the only reason you wanted to come here, I bet. Those damn cookies."  
Merlin nodded, putting the sweet gingerly onto the wrapper and taking a drink of his coffee to down it.

"Have a bite. It's good," he smiled, breaking off a tiny piece for me.

"Nah, I'm fine. The pink-and-white frosting is horrible as it is."

"No, try it."

"Mer—" He ended up mushing the cookie onto my mouth, which turned out pretty ineffective, as it just crumbled onto the table. I spat out whatever crumbs had actually gotten through my lips, wiping my mouth and pushing Merlin's arm away as he laughed.

"Aw, you wasted it."

"The frosting is fucking disgusting. How can you eat that?!" the sickly sweet flavor hit me as I licked my lips.

Merlin shrugged, putting the remaining half of the cookie back onto its wrapper on the table.

"What time is it?" he mumbled to himself, going to check his phone. Out of sheer satisfaction for myself, I got to my watch before he pulled out his phone and answered him.

"Almost 3:00."

"Well, we have a lot of time to waste, then."

"Or we could go right now," I offered, already knowing Merlin's response.

"That's way too early."

"Then when do you want to go? If you don't want to, you only have to say so. Don't be shy." He ignored me, rolling his ridiculously blue eyes, like the brat he was.

"After we eat dinner or something. Not earlier than seven."

"_Seven_?" I stared at him tryingly.

"It's only right! Who goes clubbing before it gets dark?" I couldn't exactly argue with him, but we had a lot of time to waste if Merlin expected to get there at seven by the earliest.

"Fine. Seven it is then. What do you suggest we do then?"

"Here's rather nice." Merlin shrugged.

"I'm not sitting in a coffee shop that smells like bread for…nearly five hours."

"Well, were going to eat, aren't we? And do other things."

"But it's stuffy in here."

"Deal with it."

"This is kind of like a date, huh?" I muttered under my breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. But you're new here, last time I checked, right? Transfer student or whatever."

"Yeah. From up north. Manchester." He gestured upward, metaphorically. I still wondered what brought the kid down here.

"So then you haven't really seen around here."

"Not exactly. I haven't had time," Merlin admitted, taking another quick bite. "School and shit."

"Well then I'm showing you around."

"Would you do that?" My phone buzzed, catching me off guard, so I was slow to answer him.

"Of course. You've been here for a month at least, and you don't know your way around," I said. This was exactly like a date. I wonder if the thought crossed Merlin's mind.

"Well, yeah I do, you know the school and my flat…" Another two buzzes, and I bothered to slip my phone out of my pocket, still addressing Merlin.

"Just knowing where your school and where your flat is doesn't cut it. That's just sad." I clicked the envelope icon, the messages popping up.

[Gwaine: 3:01: whered u buzz off to, hmm? ? ? ? ) ]  
[Gwaine: 3:01: I saw merles was missing 2. Huh. Can i assume the worst?]

Another buzz, and I watched the icon of the envelope entering my inbox.

[Gwaine: 3:02: SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX ;)))) ]

Fuck, I think I was blushing. Stupid fucking Gwaine. I ignored the texts, turning off my phone. I just hoped the twat wouldn't bother me again.

I let Merlin finish his drink and treat, stuffing my hands back into my pocket and looking away while he ate. Dragging him out of the coffee house, he seemed to make it a necessity to say goodbye to the worker at the counter, waving while the bell on the door chimed as we left.  
I hauled him around the city, although not knowing this part of the area that well. We killed time, talking and visiting random shops, leaving with nothing. It was 5:00 by the time we had checked our clocks again, whether it was a watch or a phone. He said we needed to eat, while I argued that he was stalling for time, and he retorted that it was ungentlemanly to go to a pub at such an hour. So we ate at a McDonalds, of all places, wasting more time and fooling around.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

We entered the first place I could find; I'd been waiting for this far too long now. As promised, I dragged Merlin there only after 7:00, much to my own disdain. Several people (but not many), who had assumedly gotten off of work and gone straight to the bar, were already here. Other than that, the music was low, and the countertop of the bar mostly empty. This was good; knowing this place, it would fill up fast soon. One it hits the mark where people finish eating their supper, this place would be packed and uncomfortable. It was good to grab seats early. I had parked my car in the valet across the street, not trusting the public parking spaces on the side of the road with my Maserati.

"How much do you think?" Merlin asked, pulling out a worn brown wallet, probably to count how much he actually had. Maybe to second guess his judgement of going clubbing tonight.

"You can put that away," I said casually, pulling Merlin onto the stool right of me. "I'll pay tonight."

"Because you can, huh?" Merlin rolled his eyes, but nonetheless slipped his wallet back into his trousers. He began fiddling with a stray bottle cap, turning it over between his fingers.

"Because I don't want you vomiting all over tonight. At least if you're eating up my tab, you'll feel guilty about it."

"Who said I'd feel guilty?" Merlin grinned, balancing the bottle cap on his nose.

"I wouldn't take you for the kind to stumble into your door at four in the morning."

"More like two in the afternoon."

"Wouldn't take for you as that kind," I questioned, doubting whether he was just trying to impress me, or if he was serious.

The barmaid came to our end, setting down her washrag to slouch against the counter. She was pretty, with light skin and wearing a complimentary red dress with the standard black apron.  
"What can I get for you two?" she asked. Merlin let the bottle cap slide off his nose onto his palm, as if in courtesy to give the stranger his attention.

"I, uh, whatever's on tap, I guess," he said quietly, with a smile that I only felt jealousy of as it was pointed towards someone other than me.

"Fosters," she replied in a snooty way. A frown appeared on my face; she shouldn't talk to a customer that way.

"Thanks, that'll be fine," Merlin said, not batting an eyelash at her rude tone. I bit my lip not to say anything.

"Ah, Pendragon," the barmaid nodded at me in recognition, not that I remembered her. No one bothered to question my age, because who knows what would happen if you questioned a Pendragon. It hadn't happened before, and I don't suppose it ever will. "And what for you?"

"Pint of whatever," I shrugged, trying to ignore her former disregard for Merlin. "Take your pick."

"A pint?" Merlin mouthed at me. "You know, I fancy a pint myself. Start the evening off strong, right?" he smiled at the barmaid again. I raised my eyebrows at the challenge, turning back to the lady in her slutty short red dress.

"I remember you have fine vodka, right?"

"Yes? Imported."

"Screwdriver, then, miss. Largest glass you have."

"Right then?" The barmaid looked amused, glancing between the two of us. "Pint of...tap beer and a Screwdriver?"

"Hold on a second." Merlin tapped his lips with a finger, thinking. "What's the _strongest_ drink you've got here?"

"You know, if we're going to go there, might as well go to shots," I reasoned.

"That's a challenge then."

"Nevermind all that," I almost sympathized to the barmaid who had gotten that sweet smile. But who am I kidding, I still hated the thought of her. "If you could grab us some shot glasses."

"I'm assuming more than just two," she muttered, and walked off, probably not too keen for two boys to drink themselves to death on her countertop. I stared after her, a thought snapping forefront.

"I'll be right back; I've got to tell her which liquors to bring."

"Don't get lost." Merlin nodded as I slipped off the stool and walked left down the bar top.

Others had gotten smart and grabbed stools before the rush showed up, as the best service was in front of the one who dealt the drinks. I found the barmaid scribbling down someone else's orders on a napkin, smiling to him and then catching sight of me.

"Ah. I'll get you glasses in a minute," she addressed me, then turned to get the next person. I cleared my throat, tapping my fingers twice on the counter.

"Yes? What can I get you?" she snapped her attention back. It's not wise to keep someone like me waiting.

"I'm driving that lanky little thing home tonight. It would be helpful if you could fill some empty bottles up with water; I'd rather not crash my car." She glanced at my 'lanky little thing', then back to me, giving me a wary smile.

"You better be ready for him tomorrow morning, Pendragon, when he realizes you duped him."

"He's cute when he's angry," I smiled, glancing back over at the subject of conversation. My smile dropped.

"Might want to keep an eye on him, too," she whistled, leveling her pencil in Merlin's direction.

"Thanks." I rapped my knuckles on the counter, walking briskly back to where I had been sitting. The key idea being past tense, because someone had quickly taken my seat. And that someone was talking to my lanky little thing; they key idea being my possession and no one else's. How many idiots did I have to frighten off before I could have _my _idiot to myself?

"Hey, Merlin," I flashed a noticeably fake smile at my friend, and then tapped the new guy's shoulder. "And who might you be?" He turned, surprised that the pretty little brunette hadn't ventured into a loud pub alone, as he had hoped.

"I, uh-"

"I don't care and I don't think he does either," I gritted my teeth, nodding to Merlin, and staring the new problem down. The nameless bloke got the point impressively fast, sliding off the stool and giving Merlin a small, disappointed wave as he left. I sat down, ignoring my friend's glare.

"You didn't have to be so rude," he muttered.

"He didn't have to take my seat in the couple seconds I was gone."

"Did you tell her gin and scotch or something?" Merlin sighed, flipping the bottle cap again.

"No."

"You can back out now, if you want," he grinned, propping a leg up on my chair. "I won't blame you." I kicked his leg off my stool.

"I told her to bring the strongest poisons she's got. Don't get too cocky."

I stopped for a moment, a familiar buzz in my pocket. That was my phone.

"Who's driving tonight, then?"

"I'll call a taxi," I replied, frowning when my phone buzzed again. And again. I would usually ignore it, but now it had gone off three—make that four times now, as it buzzed yet again. I got my phone out of my pocket; the screen was already lit with the predisposition that I had a text.

"Back to your house?"

[Gwaine: 7:11: King, where r you? ? ? ?] The multiple question-marks. It was Gwaine again.  
[Gwaine: 7:12: Where.]  
[Gwaine: 7:12: ARE.]  
[Gwaine: 7:12: YOU.]

He had actually texted me four times in the past minute. I turned off my phone, shoving it back into my trouser pocket without replying.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Your flat is probably closer, though, right?"

"Well, yeah. But you don't want to go to my flat," he said fretfully. "It's messy and you probably won't like it there…"

"I'm sure it's fine, Merlin. Just give me directions."

"You sure your father won't be mad or anything?"

"What, you think I haven't done this before? I used to go out with the Lance, Gwaine, Gwen, and Morgana, but we always had to carry Morgana home…so we stopped bringing her."

"Oh, I know Gwen. She's sweet," Merlin smiled. "Morgana? That's the dark haired girl, right?"

"Yeah. Our parents were good friends, so we're close too, but honestly…" The buzz in my pocket again. _Another_ text? "…she can't hold her liquor."

[Gwaine: 7:14: ARTHUR WHERE ARE YOU EVER1 IS ASKING ME CAUSE I CN USUALLY GET YOU TO ANSWER BUT YOU R NOT ANSWERING ]

Another message came and I was done with the bullshit.

[Gwaine: 7:14: STOP IGNORING MEE ]

I held down the power button on my phone, turning it off for good. Gwaine could wait. Everyone could wait a goddamn couple hours while I was with Merlin.

"Who was that?" Merlin asked.

"Gwaine. Nothing important."

"So what's the plan?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" he looked around at the people starting to collect in the bar. "Are we club jumping? What's the deal?"

"We'll do whatever. It's a long night, remember?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

We ended up doing the shots. By that time, I had fended off more people trying to hit on Merlin. And me. Mostly Merlin, cause of course he held that "innocent little brunette" shitty look. The barmaid stayed true to her word, no doubt trying to get a good reputation for serving me drinks. Music played loud, and the floor behind us was crowded with people dancing, who had trickled in until around 8:00, when a mass of people decided to barge through the doors. After probably three shots over the span of ten minutes, Merlin had downed another two shots in a row before balking to make a face at the harsh taste of liquor. I only drank four shots in total, as mine were just water and I didn't want him to get suspicious that I was cheating him.

"Oh shit, that's bloody sharp..." he coughed, his eyes widening as he looked at me. I was ready with a fixed smirk, making him attempt to take back his comment. "W-well, it's not—"

"I thought you said you were _such_ a drinker." He flushed, picking up another shot glass and downing it.

"What the hell is this?" he picked up the bottle the barmaid had given us, identical to mine, but filled with strong vodka. "Xellent? What kind of a name is that?"

"Imported, remember?"

"It's strong," he groaned, face flushing under the influence of alcohol. "Really strong."

"You can stop if you want. I've had enough too," I sympathized, stacking at couple shot glasses in front of me.

"Don't pity me," he wrinkled his nose, going to fill another glass, but I stopped him, taking the bottle of liquor and placing it on the other side of me. He half-heartedly reached for it, and I batted his hand away.

"Let's go. It's too crowded in here anyways." It was true; this place lost its luster after staying for too long.

"But—" He almost protested. However, a second later when a girl much too young to be there appeared next to him seemingly out of nowhere, he complied to leave with me, as she started to drawl about how blue Merlin's eyes were. He shooed her away, muttering how she even got in here. "Fine."

I left cash on the table, under the bottle of real vodka (not my fake one), and we pushed our way to the exit, shouting to each other over the loud music about where to go next.

He could still walk when we ventured to the next club, a couple blocks over. This one was of a much higher class; nice leather couches in the back, for reserved seating. Merlin looked around, stunned, at the lights and the substantial array of liquor gingerly organized behind the granite counter.  
They really only served name drinks there. Merlin didn't really know any drinks by name, so I ordered for him a fruity Madras, which he turned out to enjoy. This time, I got myself a nice, simple screwdriver, which I had actually been craving all night since I had tried to order one earlier. It wasn't too bad if I just had one drink. Merlin didn't exactly like that pub. It was "too snobby, like you are" he slurred at me, poking at my face to my own utter annoyance. I agreed to move on, having to support his weight a bit, after the shots and vodka cocktail he had inhaled.

The next place was nice looking on the outside, and not too crazy-looking for ten at night on a Friday. There weren't multicoloured lights blinding the public, but there was certainly music. The only issue was, as soon as we sat down at the counter, everyone took notice, because the kids there were mostly, it seemed, from Camelot High School. They whispered to each other, beaming at us together. A couple seemed to want to talk to me, but held back, settling with a satisfied look on their faces, as if saying "ah, so that's where he ran off to today". Which I couldn't stand for, so I dragged Merlin out before even ordering a drink. I wondered where Lance, Gwaine, Elyan and the others had gone off to tonight, and hoped to avoid them. I almost considered turning my phone back on to text Gwaine back, but decided it better not to. Merlin was beginning to cause a scene as we left the club with familiar faces, whining about my hair and how it was so blonde. I laughed at his utterly serious face, as he scuffed at his own, messing up his hair while I listened to him rattle on about how I was so girly for spending time to fix my hair every morning.

He kept talking nonsense as I led him to the next place, which I had high hopes for. I felt like fucking Goldilocks, except instead of porridge and chairs, I was choosing which club was the best. I lost track of how many we jumped, each time we left, the lights on the street becoming brighter as time passed and alcohol flooded our systems. Merlin much more than I. He threw up once in the fourth pub we visited, and when we had walked ten minutes to find the next one, he ran straight to the loo. The host saw the poor brunette rush into the back, and gave me a toothbrush and some toothpaste to "help my friend" as I followed Merlin's steps. He had just gotten up from the toilet, flushed it, and attempted to rearrange his disheveled hair while I laughed at him. He insisted that he could brush his teeth by himself, but I insisted on helping him. I remember at that point, I stopped ordering him drinks. That's all I know; I got a bit concerned about how much he was drinking. And judging by how he handled it, Merlin was trying to impress me. It was cute, the way he tried to order even more liquor, when you could tell he was looking in my direction the whole time. The bartenders would smile and chuckle at Merlin's requests, raising their eyebrows at me in question for why the kid was ordering "a bucket of tequila".


	10. Setting: Undersized Cheap Flat

**A/N: as promised! I have a lot of ideas for the next chapter, so i'll get started on it. Maybe a week or two until the next update. enjoy the merthur, R&R, beautiful babies :D**

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

I ended up calling a taxi. Merlin was too much to handle on my own; he would distract me if I drove him back to his place, even worse finding our way back to where I had parked in the first place. I remembered the directions to Merlin's flat off the top of my head, fortunately, from a couple days ago when I dropped him off. The cab-driver helped me carry him through the door of the residence, on influence of a healthy tip. The loopy kid licked his lips and tried to fish his keys out of his trousers, and after insisting that he had given them to me, finally found them in his back pocket. Most people seemed to be asleep on the level, and I had to cover my friend's mouth to keep him from waking up his neighbors.

"Arthurrr, I wa-mmph-"

"Shhh. Shut up."

"Mm- but—"

"I said shut up," I would hiss, trying to keep a straight face. "You'll wake everyone."

He spoke then in a slurred whisper, cutely obeying my words as I fumbled with the key to his flat.

"Arthur, I'm huuuungry."

"I'll get you something in a minute," I whispered, unlocking his door and pushing it open. I took my friend's hand, guiding him inside.

It was indeed messy. Not trash-everywhere messy, but more lived-in untidy; the dishes weren't put away in the kitchen, the bed was slightly unkempt, and his school books spread out on a desk. I could pretty much see his entire flat from the door. There was an open space, with his desk in the front room, and to the right a small door to the washroom. To the right was a little kitchen, and right in front of me, was his bed, next to the window. A small bed with blue striped blankets and linen-white pillows that had fallen onto the floor, with a side table with his alarm clock and a couple forgotten cups of water. Checking the clock in the first time in forever, I saw it was, in fact, the next day. 2:43 am; shit, we'd been out forever.

"Oh, I told you it was messy," Merlin laughed, walking straight for a moment before stumbling. He caught himself on the desk, picking up a scrap piece of paper inspectively, before tossing it aside and standing back up again.

"It's rather nice, really. It suits you." I closed the door gently behind me, leaving the keys to the flat on his desk on an open textbook. I headed to the kitchen, to make Merlin something to eat. The more he ate, the more sober he would be after an hour or so.

The teenager made his way to his bed, sitting down and falling on his side while his legs swung off the edge. He stared at the door, though listening to me as I rummaged in the kitchen.

"You kn-know," Merlin hiccupped, rubbing his eyes, "I had to pay for this my—myself." The brunette flung his arms out wide, his right hand hitting the window pane, showing off his small flat. "Ow…It's all mine."

"Ah, I see." I smiled at drunk Merlin, my chest filled with a warm feeling of satisfaction. I dug through his pantry, pulling out some old bread and a couple bottles of water. I continued, looking through the small fridge for anything to slap into something edible.

"I've always wanted a flat to myself."

"Have you now?"

"Yes." I saw Merlin try to stand, but fall limply down against his mattress against the window. He hit the back of his head on the frame, causing him to yelp loudly.

"You okay?" I asked with a laugh. He was amusingly clumsy when drunk.

"Y-eah..." he chuckled, wincing a bit as he sat up again.

I brought over the lousy peanut-butter-jelly sandwich I had made, slopped together on a plate, along with two bottles of water and sat them down on Merlin's bedside table.

"I don't feel so good."

"Because you're plastered, Merlin," I said before sitting down next to him on his tiny bed. "You bloody idiot… I didn't know you could drink that much."

"I'm s-so drunk right now."

"Yes, you are. Eat that," I coaxed, giving him the plate. He picked it up and then uncertainly put it back down again.

"I'm not hungry," he muttered, his flushed cheeks growing redder. "I don't want food."

"But you just said a minute ago-!" I protested, before realizing that arguing with him like this wasn't going to amount to much.

"Sorry," he muttered, obviously feeling guilty.

I sighed, taking the sandwich and all but tossed it back onto the plate on the sidetable. "At least drink your water. Sober up a little."

"A-alright," he agreed, attempting to unscrew the cap with all the ease of an elephant. I chuckled, taking the bottle and popping off the cap for him.

"Idiot."

"Thank you," he said unlike his usual response of 'prat', raising the plastic bottle to his lips and draining half of it. He moaned unexpectedly, and I watched him closely as the brunette sat the bottle back down and wiped his mouth. "…you fucking praaat." Ah, there it was. "Aren't _you_ drunk?"

"Nah. I had to take care of you." Merlin gave me a skeptical look, added with his toxicity, made his face rather hilarious. "Arthur wouldn't do that," he said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve again. "And he most definitely wouldn't make me a sandwich. He's probably out drunk ri' now."

"I'm here, I had to make sure you didn't fucking kill yourself," I smirked, sure that Merlin was just confused.

"Driving around in his goddamn fancy schmancy car..." he hiccupped. "He took me out tonight, y'know. Arthur Pendragon."

"Yeah, I did..."

"He flaunts his name l-like he's the goddamn queen," Merlin laughed. "Arthur can be such a praaat. But he likes m-me. For s-some reason."

"Oh." He really thought I was someone else.

"He likes me. Arthur Pendragon is my friend," Merlin sighed contentedly, shifting on the bed to grab at me. "Arthur is so pretty..."

"What?"

Merlin fumbled with my shirt, finally getting a grip on my collar. I kept my hands rigid at my sides, taking slow breaths, fighting the urge to maul Merlin's lips and take him drunk in his own bed.

"Allthe girls say so. I can hear them, all the—everywhere. Everywhere they just w-whisper and blab about Arthur being so pretty. He's so pretty. They all like him." I blinked, worried at where this was going. "You're not _Arthur_," Merlin scrunched his nose at me, the air alcohol soaked because of the proximity. He laughed, dropping his head against my chest with a snort. "Arthur's all...'oooh, Merlin, I'm a stuuubborn p-piece of hiiigh-class hot shit'..."

"Really now?" I tried to scoot backwards to gain some space. As much as I wanted to take advantage of him, I knew I would be disgusted with myself if Merlin woke up sober in the morning, unaware of what had happened.

"Yeah," he sniffed. "You haven't been like that. You m-made me a sandwich. But, I m-mean, I guess he's gotta be that way. Pendragon this, Pendragon thaaat…" He nudged closer again, causing me in turn to move farther back on the small bed, near the wall and the window. "Arthur thinks he's the best. He's stubborn, and-and- he just..." Merlin stopped, shifting even closer, his breath hot on my neck.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"He's too perfect," Merlin bit his lip, forehead against my chest. My heart leapt, and I tried to scramble out from under him, but couldn't. "B-but I don't...he doesn't..."

"What?" I exhaled, keeping my hands clenched at my sides.

"He wouldn't be okay with it, wouldn't like it, I know it," Merlin moaned, his lips unconsciously dusting against my neck.

"Merlin?" I tried, mostly just to hear my own voice.  
This wasn't a dream. I could talk, I could do whatever I wanted, and I would be responsible for the consequences.

"You can't be Arthur, cause I bet you'll let me..." Merlin pressed his lips to the crook of my neck, hands up against my chest. "Arthur'll probably be mad at m-me tomorrow..." he trailed off, finally sitting up enough to face me, fingers fidgeting with my shirt, tugging the collar down. His face was flushed, shyly avoiding my eyes. "Yoooou look like him. You're nice-looking. You're as pretty as Arthur is. But he wouldn't want to…want to be called pretty, so don't tell him," he giggled.

"Merlin." My back was against the wall now; I couldn't move to gain any space. The drunk brunette was up against me, desperate for attention, from a man he obviously didn't know was his friend. He was spilling his deepest secrets that I probably never would have guessed. He was confessing to me without knowing it, and was now tugging at my shirt from inbetween my legs, unbeknownst to him that he had everything he wanted. "It's Arthur. I'm right here, I swear."

"I know you're not, ya priiick..." Merlin frowned, leaning his head on my shoulder. "He's—"

"I'm right here."

"—out with girls. Arthur liiikes girls. He must like them. They're always cheering for him, out in the…in the stands. In football. Because he's so good at football. Y'know he's very good. The girls all are there, and they cheer and—and then there's me there too."

"Kiss me."

"But A-Arthur wouldn't let me kis-" I beat him to it, pulling Merlin by the back of his head into a rough kiss. He moaned, even at the first touch of lips, his arms falling limp, fingers dragging my collar down. It was wet, the taste of alcohol tainting my tongue, which only added to the weightlessness of it. This wasn't a dream.

"You're so wrong," I snarled, pushing Merlin back onto his own blue sheets, planting kisses along the edge of his mouth and roughly tugging at his hair to pull his head to the side.

"Arrthur," he still held fast to my shirt, a bond which I broke in order to get up off of Merlin's small, blue-sheeted bed. I walked to the door, flicking the light switch so the room was only cast in the faint glow from the city outside Merlin's window. Quickly unbuttoning them, I shrugged off my trousers, almost tripping over myself to jump back on top of Merlin. He had just sat up, and as his eyes adjusted to regain vision, I pushed him roughly back down and smashed my mouth against his.

I was rougher than I had to be; too feral for the first time I was doing this with him. Though, Merlin didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to moan even louder when I, for example, would bite hard into his shoulder, and rake my teeth across his neck. Lick and such at certain spots, to make sure they turned a dull red colour in the morning. Dig my blunt nails into his skinny hips, and hold him tight as I ground into him through the only undergarments left. He would inhale sharply every time I decided to squeeze; anything really. Whether it was his arse, his thigh, his crotch—Merlin would gasp and then moan out my name so avidly I just had to do it again.

An audible gasp. "Arthur…"

Another intake of breath. "Ooh my god _Arthur_—"

This time it seemed almost in panic, like if he didn't take a breath that he would suffocate. "O-oh jesus, Arthur, _fuck_…" he whimpered, burying his hands in his own dark hair, letting out another simpering whine.

I couldn't take it then—I had reached my limit. Those sounds just melting from his lips were candy, one after the other, absolutely delicious. A white hot energy washed over me, causing a sudden change in position and intensity. One second we were lying down on the bed, the next I had sat up on my knees, picked up the brunette and flattened him against the window. Thank god the glass didn't break, but the thought was only a flicker across my mind as I pulled at Merlin's hair, moving my hips roughly against his. The vocal chorus of sounds increased, the whimpering and moaning searing through my core.  
Merlin seemed to regain at least some consciousness from his lust ridden, drunk as hell daze, enough to lift his arms and run his fingers through my hair—I shuddered uncharacteristically at the touch, but covered it up with another drive of my hips into Merlin's. He struggled in his position between the window and I, wrapping a leg around my waist and tugging at my shirt. Which reminded me that I even had a shirt on, as did he. I took care of that quickly, tossing them onto the floor, taking a moment to assess his markless skin. A sudden urge hit me, only describable as the urge of indulging in a dessert, wherein I again smothered him against the window.  
I saw Merlin's eyes flutter at the new skin-on-skin contact, along with an audible reaction. Now I was in my boxers, and Merlin still in his trousers, rutting against him into the window like a sex deviant. I unbuttoned the other's trousers as well, having to shift backwards to maneuver them off of Merlin's tired legs. In the process, he was now on his knees, as was I, only dimly illuminated by the city's faint glow at 3 in the morning. Feeling my pulse slow down a bit, I raised my hands to cup Merlin's face, and tilt his head gingerly into a lazy kiss. Less sloppy, or rushed as I had been before; without the footnote of panicking if he was going to disappear. He sank into it, going limp yet again, so I slumped down after him. Supporting myself on top of him, weighted into the cheap blue sheets on his tiny bed, moving my lips leisurely against his.

It hardly seemed to cross my mind at how drunk Merlin was, at the time. It only caved on me when the poor teenager couldn't hold his hips up any longer. The strength in his arms seemed to dissipate as well, his limbs going limp and causing a weight on my shoulders rather than a desperate grip. Merlin's movements, if sloppy before, were now pitiful. As he became more and more unresponsive, I was torn between smiling at his efforts and frustration for his lack of stamina. I wanted to kiss this idiot. I wanted to have him for myself. Fuck him into his stupid blue sheets, in his undersized bed, in his small little flat. But I ended up taking the side of sympathy, because he was drunk and couldn't help being tired; I unlocked myself from Merlin's lips, giving him a quick peck on the forehead before pulling away. Make that two more kisses on his lips, two on his jawline, one on his neck… Okay no more.

"Ar…." Merlin visibly struggled to stay awake. His eyes were more than half mast, closing slowly and suddenly opening again, in an effort to stay conscious. I rolled over onto the left side of him, farther from the window, on the edge of the bed, and watched him blink his eyes and drift off to sleep. He looked so content, though alcohol was still fresh in his system, messy hair (from the night, and now recently) framing his face. I didn't know how long I laid there, just sinking into the feeling of being next to Merlin like this; his breathing slow, blush still tainting his cheeks, barely visible in the dim light from the window.

Fuck, I'm in love.

Getting up, I held out my hands in front of me...to look for his pajamas or something. I didn't want him to freak out tomorrow morning, intertwined on his tiny bed. No, I would sleep on the floor tonight, and see if he remembered anything the next day about what had happened...knowing there was a high possibility he wouldn't, I felt cheated. I wanted Merlin to have remembered...ill timing on my part, I never should have let him drink so much. Then again, perhaps I never would have found out how Merlin actually...felt...about me... My heart did a fucking disgusting twirl or some shit, taking in the fact that this shitty situation might actually work out for me. A goofy smile played across my face, for no one else to see, not even Merlin cause it was dark and he was knocked out.  
I found the loo, at least, and turned on the light. My pupils contracted painfully, as I tried to shield my eyes, but kept quiet as not to wake the one sleeping not ten feet away. I cursed quietly, turning around to see if the light would help me find where Merlin kept his goddamn nightwear; a dresser, a cupboard, something. It didn't help. I swore again, only a barely audible hiss in the quiet flat, the muffled sound of cars and faint breathing from Merlin the only things heard. Glancing around one more time, I decided to give up on pajamas, and the idea of being a gentleman for Merlin. At least I was kind enough to remove Merlin's clothes for him—sleeping in jeans is terrible, he really owed me a 'thank you' for stripping him down.

I smiled again, turning off the light to the loo and felt my way back to the small bed. Maybe I would sit with him for a little while; not fall asleep, of course, but just lay next to him. I pulled on his blanket that had amassed underneath his body, and tried my best to pull it over him. And I sat down next to him. Laid down. Got under the blanket and rested my head next to his. Why not? It was cold, and he owed me for dragging his arse home. I was still trying to shift into a comfortable position when I looked up and saw his eyes open. I caught his gaze, stopping.

"Did I wake you?" I whispered.

Merlin shook his head, though it was barely perceptible. That mushy, fucking blissful feeling washed over me again for some reason, and I whispered to him again in a content voice.

"Go to sleep. It's late." I bit my lip, running a couple fingers through his hair.

He blinked, eyes still half-mast with exhaustion. Merlin didn't reply, and barely had the energy to shift his weight so he was leaning into me. One hand up against my chest, so close that his forehead touched my chin. I inhaled sharply, deciding whether to get up before I didn't have the willpower to. But he was just so warm, and before I knew what had happened, I wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed him on his hairline. Merlin made an almost inaudible, content sound, tucking his head under my chin. I resolved to wake up before him in the morning, and make myself a believable bed on the floor…but this was fine for now.

Better than fine. Perfect.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

**A/N: I promise sex. Soon. Just not quite yet ;)**


	11. Plot: Heated Resolutions

**A/N: SORRY FOR THE WAIT ITS BEEN A MONTH UGH THANK YOU FOR WAITING 3  
ill get better i promise ;v; i plan to upload another chapter in the next week or so, i've already started on it, just cut off the couple hundred words from this chapter as a good stopping point.**

**Gosh thanks so much for all the lovely reviews. I always look at those when writing :.x  
R & R darlins :) Hope you like the chapter! Many more to come. **

* * *

The window adjacent with the bed didn't have blinds or shutters, making the room well up with light as the night gradually turned into day. I was conscious, but not awake, trying to ignore the sunlight radiating through the paned glass. It was like that daze you're in when you're drifting between sleep and awareness; the warm feeling that you don't want to leave to get up in the morning, to go to school. When you don't think, your mind goes blank, and you could lay there in your bed forever. On a regular Saturday morning, I would have done just that. Wake up a little before 10, maybe, to the knock on my door for breakfast from the maids. I wasn't in my own bed today. I didn't get that knock this morning.

What I'm trying to get at is, I forgot to get up from Merlin's bed. Forgot to make it so it looked like I had slept on the floor, so Merlin wouldn't freak out when he woke up the next morning.

That didn't turn out so well.

I didn't realize the issue of still being in Merlin's bed at first, as I was in that trance of sleep. He shifted, raising a hand to block the sun from his eyes. I'd already bent an arm over my face, elbow crooked to block out the light. My eyes half lidded, I watched as Merlin hummed, and turned over, his back against the window. He smushed his head into the pillow, voice muffled.

"I need… fuckin' blinds…"

"Morning," I muttered, smiling against my arm. He seemed to recognize my voice, reaching out a hand blindly to touch my face. Chuckling, I pushed him away, running my fingers through my bed hair.

"How'd we…get back?" Merlin asked, shifting so only half his face was under the pillow we shared. His eyes were closed half mast, blinking slowly, fending off sleep.

"I called a taxi, I think." Yeah. I'd paid him to help me drag Merlin to the elevator.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Why?"

"I thought you would have a major hangover today. Are you… sure you don't want to sleep it out?"

Merlin glanced up at his stand, probably at the alarm clock, squinting at the light that suddenly hit face as he angled his head.

"It's…almost twelve. Holy shit we slept so long. When…when did we get back?" I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember.

"It was nearly three in the morning." Knowing his binge last night, it was probably going to take at least a day for Merlin to get back to normal. Sleeping several hours had helped, though.

"God I'm hungry…"

"I made you something last night, you never ate it."

Merlin form abruptly stiffened. His eyes widened into big blue orbs, as he appeared to realized something. "Uh…"

Oh wait.  
Oh no, oh shit… I quickly became too aware of how our legs were still woven together. In the same, tiny bed, clad really only in boxers.

"Why are you…in my bed?" he asked in a shrill voice, fingers clutching at the blanket with sudden anxiety.

"I, uh…" Fuck.

We both seemed to jump back into awareness at the same time, scrambling away from each other in a panic. I backed up quickly against the window as Merlin hit his head against the top of the frame, yelping and tripping as he tried to jump over me off of the bed. The kid thankfully landed on his feet, almost falling over and supported himself on a hand.  
Merlin groaned as he almost fell, clutching his head for a second, as the hangover probably hit him in full force. He doubled over before standing upright again unsteadily, looking his nearly naked self up and down, face red with the implications.

"Oh m-my god, did we—"

"_No_!" I shouted, shaking my head fervently. Merlin winced at my shout, so I lowered my voice when I spoke again. "No, of course we didn't!" My hands clenched the sheets, my back against the window.

"But- but you're—"

"Nothing happened!"

"You're nearly _naked_ in my bed!" He took another second to rub his temples, no doubt feeling the strong headache of the hangover kicking in.

"I just—we just— I wasn't going to sleep on the floor!"

"Arthur why the hell were you—_are_ you in my bed," he asked timidly, crooking his arms to pathetically try to cover up his exposed skin.

I took a breath, urging the red to fade from my face to no avail.

"...Nothing happened last night." I ran my fingers through my hair, leaning back against the window. "I only slept in your bed. Don't freak out on me, Merlin."

I thought I had his freak-out under control, before Merlin had taken notice of something wedged under the door. I hadn't noticed anything there last night; it must have been put there this morning. Merlin bent over to pick up what looked to be a slip of paper. The brunette's cheeks flushed again, slumping against the door as he read the note, mouth dropping open. He looked up at me, then back down again, and to read it out loud.

"Hey Merlin, heard you had some…fun last night…" I started shaking my head even before he finished reading. "Use protection. Love, Will."

"Who the hell is Will?" I asked tensely.

"He's my goddamn neighbor, dipshit!" He moaned again. His constant vocals weren't helping this situation either, whether he realized it or not. Moaning was moaning, after all, even if he was making noise due to the alcohol congestion in his system.

"Look, are you okay? You drank a lot last night, you don't—"

"Stop trying to change the subject!" He flinched again at the loud shout, even though this time it came from him, not me.

"Merlin, how many times do I have to say it? We _didn't shag_," I tried. He still held the letter from his neighbor in his hands, but seemed to breathe easier.

"Really?" I caught a note of regret in his voice, which made me want to spill everything. That tone that I recognized now as disappointment; he wanted to have had sex with me. It was on his mind. Merlin was red with embarrassment, and he couldn't get out of his head that we might have fooled around last night. "We didn't…have sex?"

"We didn't do anything." Up to now, I had been telling the truth. If he had been more sober, we probably would have…you know. But if Merlin really didn't remember, then...? What else was I going to say? "Your neighbor must have, uh, heard me trying to push you into your bed or something." _Ooh, that sounded weird. Yeah that still sounds really bad. _"You wanted food, and then you didn't—you were whining all night!" I rambled, attempting to defend myself, pointing at the sandwich that still was on the bedside table as proof.

I thought, again, that Merlin had calmed down; the blush had faded slightly from his face. He backed up and leaned against his door, sighing and rubbing his forehead again, the physical gesture doing nothing to relieve his headache. Unfortunately, he had another revelation as he scanned himself up and down that caused the red in his face to come back.

"Did you…undress me?"

"I had to. Why wouldn't I?"

"Are y-you—"

I was tired of this fucking game. He had literally come out to me last night; did he have to be bloody fucking drunk to actually tell me how he felt? Well, I hadn't really said much either, but I had been kind enough to drop a not-so-subtle hint here or there that I fucking fancied him. And right now, he was literally dancing around the subject.

"Bloody hell, Merlin, did you _want_ us to have shagged last night or something?!" I snarled, fed up with this. I got off the bed, standing to confront my friend. "Why don't you just ask?!"

He flushed red again, even worse than before, failing to appear angry and ended up looking shocked. Merlin couldn't seem to come up with a response, and just stood there, gaping at me like an idiot, as I ignored my half-nakedness to stand face to face with him.

"Well, technically, you did ask last night," I spilled. "You were all fucking over me. You even forgot who I was, blabbering on about 'ooh, Arthur's so pretty' and all. We didn't bloody shag last night, because you were drop dead drunk and I wasn't going to take advantage of you." We were practically nose to nose now, Merlin biting his lip to keep his mouth shut, while I driveled on. "And you don't remember any of it!"

"So something did happen last night?! You did take advantage of me!" His lid on his words seemed to snap and he started to yell back.

"You basically fucking asked me too! You _told me last _night that you liked me! Thank god I didn't drink half as much as you, because at least I was in my right state of mind as not to—"

"So this bloody note is cause you supposedly were so loud last night."

"I think it was _you_ who was the loud one. All that from just snogging, huh? You don't get much action, do you?"

"So you fancy me, then?!" He changed the subject, crumpling the note from 'Will' and dropping it.

"What else?! You think I would make out with you last night because I felt like it? How stupid are you, to completely ignore everything—"

"But you never did say anything!" Merlin cut me off again, shouting back at me, voice slightly hoarse. "You bloody prat, you think I can read your mind?!"

"You mean this whole time, you fucking played coy—" I seethed.

"You're like the goddamn king of the school! And I'm a transfer student! What was I supposed—"

"Do you think that really matters? Is that all you were worried about?!"

"You know it matters!"

"You _idiot_—"

"_Fuck you!_"

We both dropped into a fuming silence, breathing heavily from shouting at each other. The ceasefire of heated words left a dense ringing in our ears.

I don't know who acted first; it was impossible to tell. But before I could even realize it myself, I had latched myself onto Merlin's lips, and he was kissing back.

It was even more desperate than yesterday night.  
Despite the obvious hangover Merlin was suffering from, and morning breath, it was just the way he just sank into it… and his frantic gasps for air… I couldn't help myself. Apparently neither could he. I was barely aware of the fact that we were kissing, only the bittersweet idea still playing in my head that Merlin had fancied me this whole time. That we had danced around each other for weeks (felt more like ages), passing off the many subtle gestures of affection as accidents.

_What the hell is wrong with us._

Merlin's fingers seemed to shake with a mixture of anxiety and his headache as he threaded one through my hair, the other gripping my bare shoulder to keep from sliding down the door to the carpet. I lifted a knee, pressing him into the door, kissing him on his wet lips so his mind had no other option but to focus on me. Merlin's motor skills were still sloppy from a combination of lack of sleep and the aftermath of liquor, obviously having trouble keeping his balance. The knee that was working between his thighs was the least I could do to help him stay on his feet, of course.

Embarrassingly enough, I felt myself shaking too. But it was probably more from the butterflies fucking around in my stomach than from any sort of hangover. I tried to stop it; subdue the slight shudders so Merlin wouldn't notice.

"Why…didn't you tell me before?" He hummed through the lip locks, as I felt his mouth perk into a grin.

"Why didn't _you_?" I quipped back.

"I thought maybe you would figure everything out, but I guess you're too dim, Arthur."

Feeling exhaustion take over, the side of my brain that screamed for physical attention played itself out. I rested my forehead against the door, to the right of Merlin's head, taking in the scent of newly washed linen. His sheets? I doubted he gave off the natural smell of "clean". Either way, it smelled nice. Sweet.

Merlin nudged me back to face him,going in for another peck on the lips again. After barely a touch he faltered, the grip of his hands at my shoulders loosening.

"S-sorry." Blue eyes flicked to the floor, his arms dropping to his sides. A sudden awkward haze melted over Merlin as he shifted his feet. No, "blue" wasn't the right term at the moment—more of a dull gray. _He really looks worn out._

"For what?" I responded a bit too late.

"I've never done this before…"

"Neither have I," I laughed, smiling with the same nervous demeanor.

"What does this…mean…then?" he asked, a rather open ended question, but in any case, it could wait.

"You should rest. We can figure out this mess later," I said.

Merlin nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose to lessen the pain that had returned to his head.

"I guess there's not like a book to refer to…"

I nodded slowly, understanding the analogy.  
Parent's didn't get a hardback guide on how to be good parents; they could be bought, but you never really can learn by text. It's all experience. The same thing with us; a snarky brunette and an overconfident blonde weren't ever going to get a book to themselves. There wasn't a chapter dedicated specifically on what to do when a night drinking goes wrong and you end up almost having sex with your best friend who turns out to fancy you as well, but he was drunk and you–

"How much did I have? I feel like shit." His ran his fingers through his hair, doing nothing to help the strands that stuck straight up, accentuating the statement with another short groan.

"I don't exactly remember…you started ordering your own drinks by the third."

"Third what?"

"Bar." Realizing I still had him pinned up against his door, I stepped back a foot or two with a rush of heat to my face, giving the brunette some breathing room. "I remember having to stop you at some point."

"What was I thinking?" he moaned. "I don't even…I was probably trying to impress you or something. I've never had _that_ much before."

"Idiot." This was the only use ever of the word in a soft, caring context.

"You didn't do those shots, did you?"

I stiffened at the accusation, remembering the night before, rubbing the back of my neck.

"…Ah, no. I didn't."

"I thought something was up." Merlin his eyes to me, taking a second to rub the left, warding off exhaustion. "You prat."

"I thought I would have to drive you home, I didn't really plan to drink at all, actually. I just wanted you to have a good time, but… a safe good time." Too many pricks had tried to hit on him even when he was still sober.

"Overprotective," he said in a sing-song voice, almost in a lecturing way. Despite bringing up the controversial subject, he sent me a genuine but lazy smile, finally lifting his weight from the door to trudge towards the undersized cot he called a bed.

"Do you…need anything?" I sounded stupid.

"I'm fine." Merlin slumped on his bed, rolling onto his stomach in one fluid motion. His back exposed to the light continuing to stream through the un-blinded window, I watched dark hair bury itself into the beaten pillow in attempt to block out the brightness. "Why the sudden worry?" He gave a little noise afterwards, gripping the edges of the white mass as if it would help the pain.

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" I mumbled, feeling a sudden chill. Remembering that being nearly naked in a flat that could hardly afford a heating system, I started to glance around for my clothes, long forgotten.

I noticed the exposed half of Merlin's mouth curve into another smile at my comment, his eyes closed. His pale shoulders down to the small of his back were still bare, as well as distracting.

"Do you, uh—aren't you cold?" I asked, tearing my eyes from his form, looking around for my clothes again.

"You get used to it…I guess…and don't yell," he breathed, almost inaudible.

"I'm not yelling."

"Mmm…" he shifted, fingers which had previously been grasping his pillow drifting to lay lightly against his blue sheets.

"Hey, should I…" My question slowly tricked off into silence, as sleep took Merlin much faster than I had predicted. He had a hangover after all.

_I should leave him be. Rough night._

I stooped low to pick up my pants next to the tiny bed he laid on, pausing to once over his bare torso yet again.  
I smiled, content for the first time in what felt like years. _It probably has been years._ Shrugging on my jeans, I looked around for a blanket to cover him with, even though he said he didn't need it. It just felt…like a nice thing to do.

_For my boyfriend.  
Was he even a boyfriend? My boyfriend? Is it even time to get to the official labels step?  
Merlin certainly isn't a "friend with benefits" or anything. But…_

_…Boyfriend?_

I would sort this out later.

I found a green throw tossed aside in the corner, next to Merlin's desk. Buttoning my trousers and waking back over to him, I grabbed the corners of the blanket, tossing one end over his quiet form, almost tripping over myself in an effort to get it straight. He hummed, recognizing movement, but too tired to really react more than make a sound. Brightness was still ebbing through the window, still bad even though the window didn't have a clear shot for the sun. I trudged around the dark areas of the room, looking for another blanket to act as some sort of curtain. He didn't need this kind of light.

_He has a lot of blankets_, I thought to myself, finding another one in his dresser, this time a dark purple colour. Trying to refrain from waking him, I stepped lightly back to Merlin's bedside, attempting to tuck the corners of the blanket into the frame of the window. But after I would get one side, the other would fall out, leaving me to walk back and forth around the bed. After some time, I gave up, searching for tape or _something_ in any cabinet I could find. As quietly as possible, of course.  
I found a roll of painter's tape in his desk drawer, and holding back the frustration of trying to make a goddamn makeshift curtain for _ten fucking minutes_, I finally got the blanket to work the way I wanted it too. I was pretty bloody proud of myself.

Stepping back at my work, I nodded in satisfaction, the gesture seen by no one and therefore a pointless move on my part. Whatever. Seeing the sunlight change to a deep purple colour, I felt like his fucking hangover-guardian-angel or something.

It hit me again, really hit me for the first time, as I viewed the dyed light cast over Merlin, sleeping on that small bed in this small flat with me here, watching over him. We were together. It was mutual. Not just the urge to fuck each other's brains out, but more than that.

We actually goddamn loved each other. I bloody loved Merlin Emrys.

_No no no, it's not like that. No. It's not like we've really done anything. This only just happened!_  
_It's not like that. It's too early._

_I fancy him sure. But that other thing is entirely different. Isn't it?_

I sighed. I would. Figure. This out.

Later. Not now.

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**A/N: *whispers* ****_no sex yet either where's the sex_**


	12. Unconsidered Negatives

**A/N: I dunno this chapter seems short to me? its still over 3000 words, but agh i didn't get enough into the chapter i guess. Tell me if there's any obvious errors. i still have a lot of ideas that i wasn't able to incorporate...i had this chapter planned out i had so much more to put in...agh.  
So expect another chapter soon (lots of time to work aw yes)  
Hope you like it lovies :) R & R as always!**

**...and maybe that update will have good surprises. you never know.  
*winks seductively***

** see you later this week. (EDIT: more like four) heh.**

* * *

I was looking for my shirt, which had seemed to have disappeared among…nothing. The flat wasn't really that dirty, to be honest. Quite clean actually; it's not like my shirt could be hiding in a pile of clothes. My only guess is that it got lost among the bedsheets, underneath Merlin.  
There was no way I was going to wake him, shirt or no shirt.

Looking around desperately for where it might be, I got on my knees to look under the bed. Maybe, by some accident, it had slipped under. Reaching my hand under to feel for fabric, I found something else instead. A phone. _My _phone. I'd almost forgotten…_how'd it get under here?_ I pulled out the black device I had turned off yesterday night, checking it over for scratches. None. Taking a second to ponder the consequences, I remembered Gwaine's texts from yesterday; I'd never really gotten back to him, much less talked to him. I thought he was just being annoying, but I guess I owed him some sort of explanation on why I hadn't answered yesterday. Some strange, well-thought out, spun up lie that sounded reasonable enough was probably the way I would go.

Hesitantly holding down the power on button, I leaned back so my back was propped up against the side of Merlin's bed. Holding my breath as the on screen flickered to life, I dreaded whether Gwaine had bothered to keep spamming me with messages. If so, I was worried about what I would have to deal with once this thing turned on.

But nothing happened. The couple messages from Gwaine yesterday popped up again, as if I hadn't read them the night before.

[Gwaine: 7:14: STOP IGNORING MEE ] Was the last text that appeared on my screen.

Huh.

I craned my neck to look back at Merlin, fast asleep now, half of his face hidden by hair and linen sheets. I could still hear his soft breathing against fabric; the occasional grip of his hands in the pillow causing a slight stir in the sheets. The dyed purple light hit his back, not enough to wake him, but it was the most I could have done with the idiot not bothering to buy any blinds.

God he was really pretty.

I swear I'm not a fucking lovestruck schoolgirl, I mean it.

Opening the web with my finger, I searched "hangover cures", hoping to find something useful. The app was slow, especially in this area of the city. Weren't crackers a cure? Crackers and salt. I'd probably go buy something for Merlin today to help him out...

"_Shit!" _I hissed, dropping my phone sharply as if it burned, the vibrations from the text buzz catching me off guard. I glanced back at Merlin to see if I had woken him, but let out a shaky sigh too relieved for the circumstance, thankful to see he was still asleep.  
My phone continued to emit an annoying buzzing sound, slightly dulled due to the stiff carpet.

"What the hell…?" I whispered. The message icon continued to pop up; a continuous stream of messages flooding my inbox. Hastily picking the vibrating mobile up again, I maneuvered my way through the settings to put my phone on silent, looking back again to see if Merlin had been disturbed by the sounds. Nothing; he was still limp among the draped collection of blankets.

I guessed these had all been backed up from yesterday, after I had turned off my phone. All these goddamn text messages had just reached me, after hours and hours…_how many times did Gwaine text me?! _The popups of 'you have a new message!_'_ were still coming in, one after the other…at least the vibrations were off now. But why in hell…?

As if the thoughts racing through my head affected real life, the icon suddenly stopped refreshing itself, negating to do the little jump it did to show that I had something new to read. That must be it. All the messages had finally come through.

At first I was shocked to see how many texts there were. That quickly turned to annoyance. Why in hell would Gwaine spend this much effort pestering me like this?! I usually provided him the courteous act of replying, but at this point, there had to be at least fifty new messages by now. If I don't reply, then why keep bothering me? And how long was this going to take, for god's sake?!

Good question actually…why did he keep bothering me?

_Was it important?  
Nah, nothing Gwaine says is important. He's just a load of nonsense._

Now I was more than a little worried. I clicked to read the first text Gwaine sent after I had turned off my phone, the numbers reading that I had been meant to receive it a couple minutes after the last message.

[Gwaine: 7:17: your arse is so dead ]

[Gwaine: 7:17: you fucker you ditched us ]

[Gwaine: 7:18: answer ]

[Gwaine: 7:20: so fucking dead mate youre so screwed ]

[Gwaine: 7:20: Elyan said he saw you sneaking out but ]

[Gwaine: 7:20: JESUS FUCKING CRHIST WE HTHOUGHT YOU WOULD BE BACK BY NOW ]

A sickening feeling set in the pit of my stomach. I'd forgotten.

[Gwaine: 7:23: arthur ]

[Gwaine: 7:24: arthur you forgot didnt you ]

There was a short break in the messages, with un-decodable gibberish where Gwaine was probably losing his mind that I hadn't texted back yet. I scrolled down past at least ten indecipherable jumbles of letters, expecting the worst.

[Gwaine: 7:28: gaius is pissed man ]

[Gwaine: 7:28: ur lucky he had the weekend to cool off ]

[Gwaine: 7:28: but me ]

[Gwaine: 7:29: im gonna fuckin find you man you left us all hanging ]

[Gwaine: 7:29: were playing in like 5 mate ]

[Gwaine: 7:30: YOURE SUPPOSED OT BE HERE ]

[Gwaine: 7:30: WH ER LJKD ARE YOUH ]

[Gwaine: 7:31: LIGTLKDE SHIT]

I let out the breath I had apparently been holding for the past couple moments while reading, the stiffness in my shoulders fading as I realized how tense I was.

_I missed a game._

That's what he'd been trying to tell me…I had missed a bloody football game! I'd totally forgotten about the game yesterday, 7:30 pm, against the neighboring school. Not exactly a rival school, but bad enough that I should have been there to help.

_Fuck._

I should get over there, to the field. There's practice at one on Saturdays—it _was_ Saturday today, right? I needed to go say I was sorry for missing the goddamn game, lost track of time…  
Not really apologize, of course. Not out loud. But at least get my ass over there and make up for it somehow, it was the least the rest of the team deserved.

Especially if we had lost. We had plans to end this season undefeated.

Gwaine had good reason to be livid with me. Hell, the whole team did. I'd let them down, totally forgetting about our goddamn game…

I checked the top right corner of the screen, seeing the digital clock read 1:10. Shit, I was already late. And since my car was parked back at the first bar of last night, I needed to call a cab.

And find my shirt.

Clutching my phone in my right hand, I ducked below Merlin's small cot-like bed yet again, almost praying that my shirt would be there…no such luck. Searching around the room wouldn't do much good either, I'd already done that; it _had_ to be under Merlin somewhere.

But there was no way I was waking him up, he didn't deserve that.

So instead I dug through Merlin's closet drawers, searching for something big enough for me to wear. The best shirt I could find turned out to be a red plaid one; that's when I realized I couldn't find my coat either. I'd remembered having it when I got back, what I didn't remember was when I ever took it off, much less where.

Fuck it, I just took one of Merlin's hoodies, although a bit snug, it fit. It was good enough.

Checking my phone again, it was now 1:14. Finding my shoes next to the door, I slipped them on, irrespective to the fact that I didn't have socks on. I grabbed the keys to the flat off of Merlin's desk, next to his laptop, not wanting to be locked out of the place when I got back. About to head out the door, I stopped again, making a comical u-turn to shuffle through the brunette's desk for some paper. The drawers were littered with old assignments, and dulled pencils, completely unorganized. Finding a torn scrap, and deeming it passable, I took the time to scribble a note to Merlin to explain why I would be missing when he woke up. Whenever that would be.

_Hey sorry i left so suddenly, i just checked my phone from yesterday. I missed a football game, everyones probably going to be fucking angry at me. i'm heading down to the field for practice ill be back soon, probably around 4 ill bring food or something_

_take care of yourself sleep and shit_

_-Arthur_

_oh and I cant find my shirt I think youre sleeping on it idiot _

Feeling satisfied with the letter—I even wrote "sorry" for god's sake—I zipped up the borrowed hoodie halfway up and strode over to the bed, gingerly placing the note next to Merlin. He still was sleeping soundly, unperturbed by the sounds I had made while traipsing around his room.

I planted a quick kiss on his forehead, feeling my face flush just a bit before I turned, walking quickly out the door. After locking the door quietly behind me, I sprinted down the hall, down the stairs (the elevator was too slow) and out the door to call a cab.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I paid the driver probably a bit more than was necessary, only because I was too rushed to ask for change. Hopping out of the taxi, I was greeted with the empty front of the school building. The students had gone home for the weekend, probably a couple still inside for clubs and such. The team should have been around back, on the field. I decided to cut through the building, through the locker room, to the football field. The front of the school was open, as such Gaius must have unlocked it for the team as every Saturday went. I still couldn't believe that I forgot about the game yesterday; it was routine, how could I have forgotten?!

Running through the corridors, left and right, I made my way to the locker rooms, past the showers and out the door. Taking a deep breath before stepping outside, I thought about what I would say.

Sorry? I forgot? That probably wouldn't cut it. Especially if we had lost.

Fuck it, winging some sort of an apology would have to be it; I had been too caught up in worrying to actually think about what I was going to tell the team, and Gaius.

The air was damp with the smell of dew from the previous night, however by now most of the residue water had evaporated. The sun was bright as visible through Merlin's window this morning, reflecting off the damp field.

About half the team was on the bench, the other half doing shooting drills with the goalie.

They didn't look to upset.

Elyan, sitting on the bench, was the first to notice that I had arrived at practice, better late than never. I flinched slightly as he looked over to me, standing awkwardly next to the bleachers, afraid of the reaction I would get. But instead of the scowl or shout in my direction, Elyan grinned ear to ear, ushering me to come over.

"Hey Arthur! Finally showed up, did you?"

"Uh, yeah…."

The others on the bench looked over too; I recognized Lance, as well as the rest of the other defensive lineup. The offensive team must have been practicing on the field, then.

"Took you long enough," Lance scoffed, though same as Elyan, didn't show any sign of anger or anything similar.

I sat down on the bench, marveling at the reactions. One of the blonde defenders said something to me that I didn't catch, with the same, coy smile that the others wore.

_What the hell was going on?_

"I…aren't you angry I missed the game?" I asked, confused. "Did we win or something?! Gwaine texted me last night about a hundred times, I finally got them all this morning and panicked!"

"Oh, we did fine…" Elyan laughed, glancing down to retie his cleat. "Gwaine freaked that you weren't here. Gaius was cross, but it wasn't too bad. Coulda used you though."

"Yeah, we beat them five to three. Gaius is working Leon hard cause of last night…" I looked over at Leon, in the net, obviously worn out from all the hard work.

"So. We heard where you were last night. Weren't too upset after that."

"What?" I looked at Elyan, who had an annoying smirk on his face. Lance winked at me. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Of course everyone goes out after a win. It was all over last night that you and Merlin were too," Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "You didn't recognize anyone staring at you?"

"…Dirty Harry? Everyone saw you there with a certain someone." Elyan brought up the name with a snicker.

"What the…people saw us?" I thought back to last night, face flushing slightly. Yeah. At one of those pubs we went to, I didn't bother to stop and recognize the place; Dirty Harry. It was the common hangout for everyone after games. That's why people were staring at us, because they went to our school, they knew who we were, even if I didn't recognize them. Now I knew the stares were because they were thinking to themselves, _ah. That's where Arthur was during the game, hanging out with this bloke. This works for some gossip_. "Oh."

They must have seen the understanding on my face, because Lance continued speaking.

"How long were you out? I heard someone saying they saw you at Dirty Harry at like ten at night. And then at that one old tavern at like one in the morning."

"Oh god you don't want to know…" I breathed out, relieved that no one was angry with me. "I completely forgot about the game. I—"

"No big deal, you were scoring a total babe," Elyan snickered. "Though I'm totally straight, even I can see why you're interested in Merles."

I rolled my eyes, running a hand through my hair.

"You're wearing his clothes, too. Wow, how far did you go?" Lance noticed with a blush.

"No, nothing like that happened…" I wondered whether I should spill. "Uh…."

"You're wearing his clothes, how obvious can it get?"

"We didn't shag," I muttered, only so Elyan and Lance could hear. The rest of the bench had lost interest, going back to watching the offensive line kick at the goal. "We didn't, I swear."

"But you did everything else," Elyan smiled his shit eating grin yet again.

"It wasn't a drunk thing, right? How was this morning?" Lance's tone turned concerned.

I took a deep breath, ready to convey the night to my friends, before the team on the field finally noticed my presence.

"You _shit head! Skipping the game!"_ Gwaine's voice sounded from across the field, and I looked up, seeing his form running towards me with ill intentions. "You didn't answer my fucking texts either!" The disruption caused the entire team on the field to lose focus, turning their attention to me instead. Oh, great.

"Gwaine, detention for foul language!" I heard Gaius say, before Gwaine had tackled me off of the bench and onto the ground.

He hit me with full force of running, the air knocked out of me, back against the damp grass. The dew soaked through the hoodie, making me curse and shrug it off as I sat back up again, shoving Gwaine away.

"You prick…" I hissed, draping the now useless hoodie over the bench, as Gwaine punched me in the arm and Elyan laughed. "Gwaine, your texts drowned my phone. I only got them in the morning, I had turned it off last night because of you!"

"Oh…_last night_…" Gwaine made a kissy face, fluttering his eyelashes. "I'm sure you had your _reasons_. Smutty reasons, of course, but nonetheless legitimate."

"We didn't—" I snarled, cutting myself off when I realized the whole team was now in on it. "No. I came because I thought everyone would be mad at me, but now you're all fucking with me because of Merlin."

"…but did you?" Percy asked, coming up behind Gwaine.

"No!" I'd been about to tell Elyan and Lance what had really happened; now I probably wouldn't have the chance to. Thanks, Gwaine.

"But I bet something else happened, right? Is that Merles' shirt?" The shaggy haired brunette asked teasingly, waggling his eyebrows in a ridiculous fashion.

"Fuck you," I said, standing up to leave.

"You're not leaving yet, I don't care what happened yesterday to you." Gaius' voice was targeted at me, stern and probably the only one truly upset that I had missed yesterday's game. His face worn with age, it didn't take away from the obvious irate expression set at me. "And detention as well for the foul language, Mister Pendragon."

"Sorry, Gaius—"

"I don't want to hear it." The rest of the team was silent now, biting back laughter as Gaius told me off. He was really the only one able too; none of the other teachers had the nerve to. I sat back down as his gruff voice reprimanded me. "You're an imperative member of this team; don't let it get to your head, and you can't just skip whenever you want. You're not _that_ important." Gwaine shot me a look, that I returned with a daggered stare.

"I'm sorry sir, I haven't ever missed a game before. I just forgot. It was a one-time thing, it won't happen again…"

"And I hope it doesn't." Gaius' look softened; maybe he'd let me off easy. "But that doesn't mean you're getting out of practice today."

"Well, I'm here now."

"That's right. And you missed our session before shooting trials," Gaius let a small smile take over his old features. "You have to make up for that, Pendragon. Six laps around the track for skipping. And while you're at it, one more for being late to practice."

I bit back a retort. Gwaine's laughter egging me to punch something. But I took the punishment; it could have been worse. Elyan was choking to hold back his laugh, and Leon and Lance… even Percival.  
Fuck it, who cared anymore. Certainly not me.

"Yes, sir…" I got up off of the bench, hoping my feet didn't blister too much since I hadn't bothered to find socks before leaving Merlin's flat.

Probably not the best idea.


	13. Dim Lights

**A/N: Ugh sorry for the wait, i was editing and editing and it still didnt turn out as i wanted oh well  
****sorry i stalled this long  
****sorry theres so many 'sorries' in this chapter  
****fuck**

**and its also 6,000+ goddamn words long but i decided 'hey, theyve waited this long it would be cruel of me to split up the chapter'. SO HERE'S A HUGE CHAPTER FOR YOU ALL! ! **

**ENJOY IT FOLKS ILL GET WORKING ON THE NEXT ADDITION TO THIS RIDICULOUSLY DRAMATIC ROMCOM**

** R&R ALL YOU DOLL FACES**

* * *

I took a shower along with the rest of the team after practice. Though it wasn't physically awkward, Gwaine in particular berated me with taunts the entire time. I had to lean against the wall of the shower room in frustration, because the stupid jokes about Merlin and I weren't cutting in the slightest; just the quantity was ridiculous. His dimwitted range was from "who's top" to "so you and Merles are officially to-_gay-_ther then?". He continued to taunt about wearing Merlin's shirt rather than my own, which of course was an accident. Lance even was fed up with Gwaine as well, occasionally groaning in irritation. I continued to stare blankly at the tile, the hot water lessening my temper slightly. The intermittent snap of "shut the hell up" was all I paid heed to Gwaine, which was only returned with a cackle of laughter.

That was, until the showers were finished; the water had run too cold to stand, and everyone called it a day. At this point, I had taken Gwaine's towel and mopped the floor with it until it was cold and soaked. Then I stuffed it into his bag.

Thank god I'd had a spare change of clothes in my locker, taking off Merlin's shirt and cleansing my pallet of attire, feeling much cleaner. I made sure to dress quickly, uncaring of the fact that my skin was still damp and stuck to my clothes, because no way I wanted to be in there when Gwaine had realized what I'd done.

The angry shouts from the locker room as I left at least held some satisfaction.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Realizing how late I had been out, I drove through a fast food place on the way home, ordering one of every type off the menu. I didn't know what he liked so why not go with everything? The lady at the drive-thru handed me about three bags, making me hesitate for a minute before putting them onto my car seats. I'd have to clean those later.

My fingers were greasy as I gripped the doorknob to Merlin's flat, fishing through my pocket for the keys. I balanced the bags between my neck and shoulders, cursing softly as I tried three different keys before one fit in and turned. Opening the door quietly, it occurred to me that Merlin might still be sleeping. Maybe he'd slept off his hangover; it had been quite some time now.

The room was dark. Merlin was still in bed, and had only shifted slightly from his position, so that the note I had left him this morning had fallen off and onto the carpet. He must not have read it…

I checked my watch, reading LED numbers 8:00….he was really knocked out.

I laid the keys down on the desk with a clink, taking a right to the kitchen; there I dropped the fast food bags onto the counter. Having a clear line of sight, I caught myself looking back to the main room, where the bed was. The blankets I had created makeshift curtains out of were still there, and I felt a twinge of pride that he had left them. However crappy, they did their part.

And glancing downward, I nearly cursed out loud in frustration.

My gray t-shirt was there, the one I'd been looking for this morning, behind the blanket-curtains all along.

_Stupid shirt._

I grabbed it, though careful not to collapse the curtains I'd scrapped together.

Exhausted from practice, I decided to call it a day. I took off Merlin's shirt, cringing slightly at how it smelled. I'd have to wash this before giving it back. Throwing on my gray one, I debated whether to try and sneak into bed with the brunette sleeping so soundly. And decided against it. He was spread out from end to end, one arm hanging off. I bit back a laugh at how ridiculous he looked, turning it into a lopsided smile instead.

I was too tired to care about sleeping on the floor, and chose the spot inbetween his kitchen and bed. Hopefully he wouldn't step on me or anything, but it was the best possible place I could think of. His desk chair would be too uncomfortable, same with the tile in the kitchen or loo; so I situated myself on the carpet. It wasn't too coarse, and I created a makeshift pillow out of my gym bag. This would work. And although the texture of the carpet itched at any exposed skin, I didn't mind. It occurred to me that for anyone else, I _would_ mind; I would be bothered by sleeping on the floor, not in a soft bed, on any other occasion. For any other person.

I fell asleep quicker than anticipated, unable to keep my eyes open at the dull pattern of Merlin's breathing and the whirr of the fan lulling my senses.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

I woke up to the sound of running water. Opening my eyes groggily, I sat up, feeling my back ache at the slight movement. Sleeping in clothes probably wasn't the best idea either, as my trousers had shifted into uncomfortable folds and bunches. Blinking several times to clear my hazy vision, I recognized that the noise of water came from behind the closed door to the loo; light was sketched along the floor between the wooden door and the carpet. He must have gotten up to take a shower earlier.

I groaned, limbs sore from sleeping on the floor…but it was fine. I slumped myself lazily onto Merlin's bed, flopping down face-first on the still-warm sheets. I breathed in deeper than necessary.

_They smell like him. _

I laid there a moment too long. Shaking my head, I rolled over, surveying the room. His alarm clock read 11:20; I'd slept in. Again. Merlin couldn't have been up for long, as the heat from his body still lingered in the bed. I noticed the note I'd left the day before on his dresser now; did he think I was still out?

I looked up as the door to my right opened, the light causing me to squint. Merlin had wrapped a plain towel around his waist, and didn't seem to notice me at all. Dark wet hair dripped tiny droplets onto his shoulders, the towel hanging loosely on his pale hips. He must have not have noticed me sleeping on the floor, because he still didn't give me any sign of recognition, or even glance my way.

I had half the mind just to watch him dress, as Merlin opened his dresser, to grab something to change into.

"Are you feeling better?" I greeted him from his bed.

"What—?!" Merlin jumped where he stood, head whipping around to where I sat. My eyes widened as he nearly tripped and fell, bracing myself to get up to possibly help him off the ground. It didn't come to that though, as Merlin laughed at his own clumsy startling, gripping the white dresser.

"Arthur, I didn't hear you come in..." he offered lamely, but I could only smile back in return. It was almost a reflex that I couldn't control. I just smiled when he did.

"I crashed here for the night, I hope you don't mind…I slept on your carpet."

"Of course not! I'm just surprised I didn't notice you. Sorry you had to sleep on the floor." He adjusted the towel around his waist.

"How, uh...are you feeling? Better?"

"Oh, loads, yeah." He shot me a wider grin, despite his half-nakedness. It disappeared suddenly, as he recalled something. "I saw your note. From yesterday, I'm guessing…what about your game?"

"Oh, I-"

"I'm so sorry mate, I shouldn't have-"

"Merlin-"

"Distracted you from your football, I mean it's my fault—"

"Merlin, it's okay! And it's not your fault," I managed to get out. "We didn't lose. Gwaine was just overreacting; it was really only Gaius that was mad."

"Oh that's good," he said, looking relieved, but still wore a loud smirk. "I thought you were going to get a beating."

"Well, that I did get. Gaius really made me work for skipping a game..."

"Well—" Merlin started, before pausing to look himself over. His practically naked self over. "I should...get decent."

"Oh, no need." I realized what I said a second too late.  
Fuck. That really just slipped out.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, flushing a darker color.

"I didn't mean it that way really—" I found myself unconsciously oncing him over, taking in his damp features.

The action must have been blaringly obvious.

"Of course you can get dressed, I didn't mean...you just, you really..." I started to turn red as well. "Aah, fuck..." I gave up trying to redeem myself after blushing scarlet, avoiding eye contact by putting my face in my hands, hoping to stifle the heat radiating from my cheeks.

"Well then," Merlin said, with an arrogant twist to his tone rather than offended. "You've already seen me like this, at your house. This isn't much different, is it?"

I groaned in embarrassment, rubbing my hands through my hair, staring at the ground.

"Look, I'm just—" Merlin's bare feet came into view, my eyes widening. "Uh..."

"It's only fair, isn't it?" I looked up to meet Merlin's eyes as he took hold of my shoulders and pushed back.

I was too shocked to resist, my head hitting the pillow as Merlin climbed on top of me to straddle my hips. The lukewarm water dripped from his shoulders to my shirt, and I exhaled heavily at the look of bridled lust on Merlin's face as he bit his lip.

"You've seen me half naked twice now. So take it off," he breathed.

He didn't need to tell me twice.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulling up and shimmying out of the hindrance, tossing it off the bed. I didn't care that my hair was now a mess, because Merlin had leaned down and kissed me.

Kiss probably wasn't the right word; the action was too lewd to be considered just that.

_Mouth sex is a better word._

The way his tongue seemed to melt with mine, wet lips contrasting against my dry ones, one of his hands dropping to trace along the natural ridges of my chest... Holy fucking shit he was good when he wasn't drunk as hell. So good that already I was growing hot with anticipation, as his mouth moved against mine in such a way that felt like we were shooting a porno.

_Fuck he was good._

Just to make sure this was real, that it wasn't one of my dreams again, I lifted my hands to fit nicely against the bare expanse of his hips. Yeah he was definitely real. Up, and down again, along his ribs and around to his stomach, savoring the slight moan he made at my slow movements. My fingers dipped under the towel, along the curve of Merlin's hips to his legs while he was occupied with my mouth. Though the brunette must have sensed my actions, and intentions, as the hand he wasn't using to support himself over me shot down to tug at my belt. Taking it as a hint, I grabbed the damp thing to pull it away, before Merlin abruptly broke from my lips.

I let go quickly, hands dropping to the bed in case maybe I had gone too far. Merlin wasn't even looking my way, though; he was staring over at the kitchen, eyes saucers.

"You brought food?" He asked rhetorically, a note of childish excitement in his voice.

"What—"

He got up off me before I could react, striding over to the kitchen so that I had to crane my neck to see him. He saw the bags of fast food, letting out a happy laugh.

"Oh, man, I've been starving!"

_Are you bloody kidding me? _

The towel barely held on, the idiot rummaging through the contents of the bags for whatever he was craving.

That I was not going to stand for.

Now full of lustful intent, laced with frustration at what a dick he was being, I whipped my belt out from my trousers, standing up from the bed. A set look on my face I discarded the thing on the floor, walked over to Merlin, still trying to wrap my head around the situation.

I'm sure he knew what was going on. I'm sure he was just playing me on purpose, because he was the type to do so.

Merlin stood at his counter, pulling out the greasy chips that really weren't meant to actually be eaten.

"Holy shit, you bought a lot of food!"

"It's cold. From yesterday. You don't want those," I held back from snarling, sliding my hands back around Merlin's hips where they fit so perfectly. There was no way I was going to let him go.

"I bet it's not too bad. I've only had that sandwich...since..." I'd pushed myself flush against his lithe back, my mouth hovering above the crescent where his neck met his shoulders. "Can't I just eat a little?"

"No, you _really don't _want to," I emphasized, eliciting a shiver from him. "Did you really think I'd just let you eat after pulling that?"

"Pull what?" Merlin played dumb, infuriating me even further. He wasn't this naive; the brat was doing this on purpose; teasing, like this.

"You kiss really fucking well."

"Do I?" I could practically hear the smirk on his face. Despite my movements, Merlin raised a hand from the carton and ate two chips at once.

I didn't reply; didn't abide to his stupid game. Instead I rocked my hips forward, pressing him into the counter.

Actions do speak louder than words.

Literally spoke, as Merlin moaned and dropped his head against his chest in reaction. His shoulders hunched over slightly, coupled with another sensual moan, instigating me to repeat the motion.

"Put the goddamn chips down, you tease," I said stiffly into his ear, my hands darting up to grasp his arms near the elbow. I rocked into him firmly, enforcing my request on the physical side.

"Mn-okay," he answered quickly despite the food, making me smile at how fact the response came. Merlin set the fast food back on the counter, forgetting about it completely as he pushed back against me. "Oooh wow..." he shuddered. I stifled my own noises by latching my teeth onto his slick shoulder, not hard enough to leave a mark though. Letting go of his skin, I lifted my mouth to the shell of his ear.

"Merlin, turn around..." I said through gritted teeth. The other was only too happy to oblige, and while he was at it, hooked his arm around my head to kiss me again. Even better than before. Merlin let out a happy sigh as I hoisted him up onto the counter, continuing to push into his hips. He wrapped his bare legs around my waist, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that the towel didn't help as much of a barrier anymore. I was rutting against his bare skin now, stuck firmly on Merlin's lips.

But in honest truth, I was worried that I would get it wrong. Make some sort of amateur move of skipping a step... I knew the...general gist of what to do. I wasn't a virgin, but with men, I've only heard things. I've never actually been with anyone of the same gender, like I was now.

Because I'd never had the urge too; never needed it, hadn't met anyone that sparked such an interest like this, never felt the urge to explore this area of messing around. Of course I was uncomfortable with it, I wasn't sure where to go from here really, but it didn't feel _wrong_.

Because it wasn't wrong. It felt startlingly right, if not perfect.

However, what _was_ wrong was the place we were doing this. I wasn't about to screw Merlin into the counter. Not today, on our first time, anyways. Because at this point, I knew it was going to happen; nothing could come between us now, literally and figuratively.

"Hey," I managed to unlatch myself from wet lips, a slick pop as we untangled, breathing heavy. Merlin's mouth followed mine as I pulled away, itching for more contact. His eyes remained closed, lost in the moment, it seemed like. "Merlin, wait..."

He responded with a small huff of protest at the lack of lips, opening his eyes in indignation.

"What?" Came an impatient, nearly harsh response.

I wet my lips, bracing to hoist the leaner boy off of the counter.

"Hold on a minute." I picked him up, lighter than I expected, Merlin's legs fitted around my waist and his arms around my neck for support.

Though it was a short walk from the kitchen to his bed in the other room, it felt longer than it should have. Because Merlin, being the prick that he was, decided that latching his teeth to my neck was a good idea. A fantastic idea. My knees buckled, much to my discontent, as I felt a sharp pinch above my pulse. Then a wet swipe of tongue. Back to teeth, now I moaned as Merlin sucked more than lightly at my skin.

_That would leave a mark. _

I dropped Merlin onto his bed, jumping on top of him and driving my lips back in place. I pressed my tongue to the roof of a moist mouth that now tasted of salt from the fast food, tracing the inside of teeth. Merlin moaned yet again, bucking his naked hips upward and attempting to finally unbutton my jeans to even the odds.

A wave of hot lust washed over me for a moment, as the realization hit that another boy was naked underneath me, very much wanting this. Very naked. Very hot, blushing, willing, and naked.

The thought spurred me forward, pushing Merlin's hands aside to unbutton my own trousers, attempting to push them feverishly down my legs at a painfully slow rate.

Fed up with every brand from Levis to Gap for being so difficult to take off, I broke from ravishing Merlin's now bruised lips for a moment to get off the bed, more effectively stripping them off and tossing them to the floor with the rest of the obstructive articles of clothing. Pausing for a brief moment, I considered if I should strip off my boxers as well. That would be it, the last article of fabric left. Feeling Merlin's eyes on me, I decided that it was probably best to think ahead. There was no going back anyways, why not start now?

Merlin pined at the lack of contact, even though I was less than a couple feet away, sitting up and exhaling sharply to show his simmering frustration.

Apparently Merlin got impatient when he was horny.

"Need help with that?" He asked sharply, getting up without the slightest hesitation. Standing in front of me while my hands were at the hem of the material, Merlin did it for me, slipping my boxers down to my knees. About to answer his snide remark with a snap that "I was about to", the reply was overcome by a pure feeling of lust as a hand pushed me back onto the bed, so I was sitting now, with the other boy in front of me.

I watched, transfixed, as Merlin knelt inbetween my legs with a set smirk playing his features. Something told me he knew more about this whole thing than I did. Merlin knew _exactly_ what he was doing. Before I could worry about where he learned everything from, I felt hot breath on my exposed cock that wiped any coherent thought from my head, replacing any doubt with the throb of arousal. I bit back a moan, leaning back on my hands to sink slightly into the worn bed. My silence ended abruptly into a drawn out groan, as warmth wrapped the tip of my cock ever so subtly, the movements distressingly slow. My eyes were half lidded at the sensation, breath short, my arms in danger of going limp to let me collapse on my back.

Lowering my line of vision from the ceiling to Merlin, I shuddered to see he was already looking at me. Blue eyes waited for a response, glazed over with want as he finally refused to take me in deeper, never breaking eye contact but to blink. A searing heat coursing through my veins controlled my hands, my shivers, my mouth, seeming to act on their own.

"Stop wasting time," I managed to get out without stuttering, fingers travelling forward to curl through damp dark hair. "Do you want to do this or not?"

The reaction I received, though unexpected, was no doubt welcome as Merlin hummed around my cock, being the only way to reply. His eyebrows knitted with annoyance, bright eyes indignant at my suggestion that he wasn't fully committed. The hand in his hair gripped tighter at the vibrations from the sound, only accompanied by Merlin responding by moving his head forward. Everything was warm and wet, impossibly wet. Devastatingly warm. Hot even. And the sensation spread from my cock to everywhere else as the brunette continued. The sucking, his eyes never leaving mine, just everything— the forearm pressed against my hips was the only obstacle keeping me from bucking further into his mouth.  
I moaned far too loud as Merlin gave me a hard suck, his lips popping off my cock with a slick, dirty sound.

"Is this your first time, or what?" he asked, the smirk he wore glistening with his own saliva laced with a bit of precome from me. My mind went fuzzy at the sight, almost missing the next words that came from those bruised lips. "You're awfully sensitive. Are you a virgin, or something?"

Taking a second to register what he had said, my eyes narrowed into a stare.

"Are you for real?" I frowned. "I'm not se—"

Merlin snickered, his nose wrinkling as I protested, leaning down to run his tongue down the side of...oh wow...  
I failed to suppress a cohesive shudder and moan, hands still wound in dark hair gripping tighter. Feeling the outline of a smirk against my cock, Merlin laughed softly again, barely audible.

"Vir-gin," he teased, exhaling hotly against my skin.

"I'll show you virgin," I muttered, my hands moving from his hair to underneath his chin, to pull Merlin up into an irritable kiss. The prick still laughed, mouth opening so I had access to the inside of his mouth. That shut him up.

Wet and sloppy, I tried as best I could to grapple the other back onto the bed underneath me, hands sliding even farther downward to thighs as he lay horizontal. I saw Merlin smile again; he had. The genuine beam, and then that not-so-innocent smirk. He was wearing, at the moment, the latter; I took it as a sign he was about to say something snarky again. So as he opened his mouth to speak, I ran my hand up his right leg, letting out a sigh at the skin on skin contact and circling around to his inner thigh. Gingerly wrapping my hand around the base of his member, I tried to conceal how foreign the concept of giving a handjob was for me. Whatever words Merlin had wanted to speak were drowned out by a delicious moan, with the upward bucking of hips to seek more attention, hands spread out on the sheets. I moved my hand slowly up and down, lowering my head to suck and lick just above the collarbone. I continued for a short time, long enough to leave a hickey before Merlin abruptly pushed me off of his neck.

"That's— stop," he said, out of breath, swatting my hand away from his dick. I blinked, confused, and worried that I had got something wrong.

"Is something...?" I attempted to ask, before Merlin turned around on his stomach, reaching to his bedside table and pulling open a drawer.

A sudden heat flushed my face as Merlin got on his hands and knees in front of me, to gain more access to rummaging through the drawer for whatever he was looking for. I sat up on my heels, backing up a bit so I wasn't so close, feeling embarrassed that his arse was in my face and his back arched in such a way.

"Got it." Merlin turned back, still pink in the face, with a smallish bottle of lotion. Like one of those travel sizes, that you get at a hotel. "Here." He handed the bottle to me, lying back down against his bed and looking up at me expectantly.

"I, uh..." Blushing scarlet, my eyes flicked between Merlin and the bottle. "Will it hurt? You, I mean...? I wouldn't want..."

Merlin rolled his eyes, hooking his arm around my neck and falling down again, bringing me with him.

"Use your fingers first." His hot breath against my ear, words blunt. "And then fuck me, Arthur Pendragon."

My pulse quickened, arousal somehow heightened even more, precariously holding myself over the other with the bottle still in hand. Merlin saw the balanced weight of action in my face, smirking and pressing his wet lips against the side of my mouth. Those words made me swallow any drop of hesitation I had left.

"Come ooooon," he breathed, rocking his hips upward against mine at a slow, sensual pace. "You'll get the hang of it."

"Eventually, maybe." I broke eye contact to open the bottle, slathering cold lotion over my fingers. The substance was pinkish, and smelled like a watered down perfume store. It wasn't lube as I expected, but would work as the product.

"Yeah, we can practice you know?" Reaching over Merlin's head to place the bottle onto the sidetable, I smeared the lotion experimentally between my fingers and thumb.

"Practice, hm?"

"Of course, I can help you— _oooh_..." I'd dropped my free right hand down along his back, to press my cold fingers near his tail bone. "Close, but no cigar," Merlin snickered, as if playing a game.

"Hot or cold?" I played along, teasing the place he was hoping for with two fingers.

"Warmer, not quite."

I slipped one finger inside him with no warning, up to the second knuckle without much effort. The slickness to my fingers helped. Merlin's breath hitched at the sensation, arching slightly off of the bed.

"Hotter," he managed, words now slurred with lust and quieter. He closed his eyes, blue now hidden from sight. "Keep going."

I held my breath, adjusting my finger and gingerly adding a second. It was tight. Deliciously tight so that it made me want to skip all this and just ram him. Merlin arched again, higher this time, letting out a long sigh. I wasn't going to last much longer if he kept this up. After a moment to wait for him to wiggle around, I added one more. Merlin bit his lip, obviously the feeling of three fingers inside him was unpleasant.

I curled my fingers in the slightest, in attempt to scissor and make him more comfortable, but the effect I received was quite different.

No, the brunette's eyes flew open as his body stiffened, mouth silent but shaped in an 'O' as if he would shout. Merlin braced himself on his elbows, whimpering as he tried to stay situated in the same position.

"Hot. HOT. That's— right there, that's, oh _wow_—" Merlin fluttered his eyelashes, pushing back on my fingers.

"Right here?" I smirked, pressing down on that spot. He let out a lewd moan, quickly covering his mouth with a hand once he realized how vulnerable it sounded.

"Yes, _yes _right there didn't you hear me the first time?!" Merlin's form shuddered underneath mine, glaring at me through dazed blue eyes, flushed and now in addition agitated. I snickered at his reaction, scissoring my fingers inside of him to bring forth another. To see how many sounds I could unlock.

"_Ar_thur..." the other whined, twisting and tensing underneath me. He was so close to begging for it; I never thought he would, though. Merlin was above that. Too prideful.

"_Mer_lin..." I mocked, leaning down to ghost my breath along his jaw.

"I swear, you'd better…" He didn't finish his sentence, instead making a noise somewhat a cross between a sigh and a gasp as I retracted my fingers.

"Don't be so impatient," I planted light kisses along the side of his face, on warm flushed skin, moving my hand to slick my cock.

"Don't stall so much," he snapped back, turning his head so that he caught my lips.

I kissed harder, lining myself up to push into him…I tried not to hesitate, to hold my composure, to act like this came so natural to me. When really, I was shivering with anticipation and I hoped this would feel as good as I hoped. Dreamed.

This was a reality now, and I was nervous.

Arthur Pendragon was nervous.

I dispelled the shaky feeling, looking back to Merlin's face again.

And I pushed in, watching as the brunette's features changed into something between pain and absolute overwhelming pleasure.

Only halfway sheathed, I was close to panicking as Merlin whimpered, gripping my shoulders tightly to dispel the pain.

"A-are you okay? What—should I not—"

"Don't you _dare_ pull out…" he hissed, wrapping his legs around my waist and attempting to regulate his breathing.

I chewed my lip, trying my best to stay in the same position, not to move, to not do anything really…I held myself over Merlin, inbetween his legs, resisting the urge to push further. Because it was intoxicating; a hardly endurable act to hold myself still while half inside such a warm…tight… Christ that felt amazing…

"Merlin…" I almost asked. Not directly, of course, biting back a shudder of arousal as best I could.

"Move."

I thrust my hips forward, not needing another word of confirmation, and we both let out similarly desperate gasps of pleasure at the movement.

Merlin's eyes were still closed, his legs held to my waist to assist the angle my hips pushed into his. He met every thrust with a sound; open sighs and moans of "more" and "Arthur, Arthur, _Arthur_" left his lips like natural breaths, one after the other, in a never-ending cycle. The constant exhalations drowned out any thought, leaving me filled with nothing but warmth and pressured lust. My mind turned to mush as everything became hot and musty, our breathing now interlaced within the other's as if we were the only two in the world.

The cheap bed creaked and sprung under our movements, in time with each rocking of our weight.

And it felt amazing.

Merlin clung to my shoulders, seeking kiss after kiss. His hands ran through my hair, chest flush against mine, heels every so often brushing against my skin – every touch he supplied to the mix jolted like electricity, only adding to the mess of contact.

All too soon it became too much. I didn't know how long we lasted, but I couldn't help myself anymore. It was all too much now. Merlin clenched around me, his grip on my shoulders tightening like I was a life line as he nearly shouted out my name, too late to warn me and too far gone to care. I followed in a similar suit, driving into him hard one last time as I felt the buildup of pressure leave abruptly. The rubber band of tension coiled so tightly inside both of us snapped, in a sticky white and messy form on that tiny bed.

Panting heavily, our bodies limp and legs tangled with one another's, eyes half lidded with exhaustion, we laid there. Our breathing was the only sound in the flat, the city we resided in could have been hundreds of miles away. The rapidly cooling spunk on our skin made us feel dirty, but at the moment, it didn't seem to matter.

It took us a while to meet each other's eyes, and when it happened, we both broke out into ironic laughter. All the tension left. I adjusted myself so I wasn't half smothering the poor kid, as much as I could, which turned out to be only a couple inches of space.

"Well I guess it was only a matter of time…" Merlin gave a shaky laugh, shallow breaths slowly relieving his tired lungs. "And I just showered…"

I stared at him pointedly, collapsed against his pillow. He was acting…strange. Was he embarrassed or something? Merlin never was. It must have been just that though, as he avoided my gaze, licking his lips nervously. He clenched and unclenched the sheets between his fingers, looking anywhere but at me.

"These sheets will take forever to clean, too…" he went on.

I sighed, taking his hand in mine so that he stopped fiddling with his bedspread.

"Could you stop joking for just a second…" I said softly, wrapping my arm around his naked waist, "And just enjoy this? Here. Us."

I felt self-conscious as Merlin blushed at what I had said, answering with a mere nod. He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, the action lasting a just second too short of a passionate one.

"I—" His eyes were misted as he pulled away, reaching up a hand to apparently straighten my sex-mussed hair. "Sorry."

"Merlin, it's _fine_." I smiled fondly. _You're fine_, I wanted to say. _No, you're perfect._

_I love you, I think._

I wanted to say that.

But I didn't because I knew he would brush it off. Merlin didn't seem the type to believe in such a thing; I didn't want to pressure him into such a strong word.

I also wanted to stay.

But I couldn't, and a fluttering panic washed over me; I needed to get home. I hadn't been there since Friday morning; god knows so much has happened since then. It was Sunday now, the afternoon no less. No doubt my father would be wondering where I was. Angry, more like, rather than worried. I'd have to come up with something believable to where I was…and I hoped he hadn't found out that I'd missed the game on Friday. He'd be angry as hell if that happened; it would damage such a fine reputation, one supported by his star son on the school football team.

I felt like a hypocritical jerk.

Merlin knew what I was about to say. His shoulders slumped slightly as he saw the expression on my face, his content smile dropping into a look of concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked, forehead resting lightly against mine so all I could see was blue. The brightness in his eyes dimmed as he searched mine, for something, anything.

"Shh." I tried to make it last longer, pulling him closer so his hair ruffled my chin.

I really tried.

_I want to stay._

"I have to go."

He stiffened next to me. I moved so that I could look at his face again, willing him to understand.

"I know…" Merlin looked put out. Deflated. Empty.

_Don't look like that. Don't make that face._

"I'm…"

_Sorry_.

"My father will be worried, I haven't called or anything…"

_I'm so sorry, Merlin._

"You're feeling better, right?"

_I love you._

Merlin tried to hide the emotions written on his face, smiling, but it was utterly fake.

"Yeah, I think I slept most of it off," he said quietly.

_Don't make that face._

"I'm not just blowing you off, okay?"

"I never said you were."

"I'm not." Moving my hand from his waist, I got up to put on my clothes.

Merlin watched in silence, blinking every so often, looking drained.

Searching the flat for my clothes wasn't too difficult, now that I was fully awake. Too early I was fully dressed, this time in my own clothes rather than Merlin's. I ran my hands through my hair a couple times, and checked my jacket pocket for my car keys.

"Was it good for you?" I asked nervously.

"What?"

"I—you were amazing."

"Thanks," he smiled halfheartedly, fiddling with his sheets again. "You were, too."

"I, uh, think I have your backpack in my car, should I—"

"Just bring it tomorrow, it's fine."

_Why were we so awkward all of a sudden?_

I took a deep breath.

"Do you want to—"

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

I glared across the room at him.

"I didn't take your virginity or anything, did I?"

"No!"

"Then why are you acting so—"

"I just didn't expect for you to fuck and leave, okay?"

"I'm not—"

"Think about it, you kind of are."

I bit back a retort, seeing he had a point. I leaned against the door, throwing my keys up and catching them, avoiding looking at Merlin.

_Just say what you fucking want to, you idiot. _

"I wish I could stay." I chewed my lip. "I'm sorry. "

"I know you are, Arthur."

My eyes snapped to his, wide.

To be honest, I was taken aback. I never handed out apologies, and…well, Merlin was treating it like…it was a natural thing.

It was strange.

But not exactly an _odd_ kid of strange. Rather pleasant.

"You do?"

"You're sorry all the time, you just don't want to say it." He buried his head in his pillow, pulling the blanket over his exposed skin. His next words were slightly muffled. "You don't have to be all studious, you know."

I thought back to the other night, when Merlin had complained about "Arthur" being a pompous prick.

This was what he was talking about.

"Do you want to go out sometime?" I asked, surprising even myself.

Merlin took a second to respond, lifting his head from his pillow to look at me across the room.

"What?"

"Like a proper date." I drew myself up a bit. "I'll treat you to dinner, a flick…_proper_."

A light grin played at his features, and he chuckled.

"Sure. But you're paying."

"Fine." I smiled back, opening the door. "See you tomorrow, Merles."

* * *

**A/N: fucking fiiiinallyyyyyy (quite literally)**

**hope you enjoyed at least a bit. Look forward to more! Soon ! !**


	14. Plot: Unexpected Complications

**A/N: Updaaate whooa**

**Sorry this is pretty short. Just wanted to upload something... ****I wrote this all on my phone so if theres mistakes feel free to inform me! Thanks (:**

**Plot development, a little? Gotta have something by, what chapter is it, 14?! **

**Also, just a heads up, ive been considering rewriting the first couple chapters. Its neen like a year and my writing has definitely changed**.

**Enjoy pretties and review all you like! I'll keep writing to make up for how short this chapter is, I kinda feel bad about it, so expect another update soonish!**

* * *

I couldn't wipe the damn grin off my face, one that didn't seem to fit me. As in, it was rare I ever smiled like this... as in it hurt my face. But I just couldn't stop bloody smiling, emotions twisted into a knot that didn't exactly hurt but more what seemed to be an endless swarm of butterflies fucking in my stomach. Don't butterflies die after they fuck, or something? Great, there's a bunch of dead butterflies hanging out inside me.

And I'm still smiling while thinking about dead butterflies. Somethings definitely up with me.

I guess I had good reason...

I'd just had the best sex in my life.

And on top of that, I got a date. In some ways, the promise of one outweighed the sex part.

_Merlin._

My stomach did a flip just thinking about him; the smile playing my features only widened so that the lady at the front desk blushed as if I was looking at her. I honestly couldn't care less. The absolutely giddy feeling that possessed my every movement now, even just walking outside to my car, was overwhelmingly sweet and drowned out everything else.

Like, a donut covered in grossly pink frosting, topped with too many sprinkles and too much cream filling. And that sickening taste is in your mouth for the next week.

_Great, I'm making references to food now. Donuts? Are you kidding me?!_

My car was parked outside, two parking tickets lazily stuffed behind the windshield wipers. I couldn't really care less, fumbling for my car keys, ridiculously lovestruck as I decided I was. I fit the awful description of a lovestruck idiot. Merlin would probably laugh his arse off if he saw me in such a state.

The same cheerful mood seemed to follow me home. I turned off the radio after maybe two songs, because it was just dead buzzing in my ears compared to my thoughts from _where should I take him to supper?_ to _god I want to kiss him again... wow...and he's all mine to kiss._

It was hard to pay attention to the road when the occasional naked, moaning Merlin popped into my head. Very clear, vibrant; almost a replicate image of the scene. Unfortunately it was interrupted by the loud beep of a horn as I realized I had been sitting at a green light for close to ten seconds. I let out a chuckle, for no one to hear, waving my hand to the person behind me as I pushed down on the gas.

The sky seemed brighter, the

_It feels so good, to be this carefree. Like a weight's been lifted from my chest_...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yet all good things must come to an end. My weightless content was bound to only last so long.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stay so cheerful as I pulled into my driveway, parking my car outside my house at the estate.

Maybe I shouldn't have said "good morning, nice day outside isn't it?" like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Smiling widely, at some unknown source of satisfaction.

I only realized my error when I turned to walk up the stairs, too much of a skip in my step.

"Arthur, where in hell have you been?"

The question was asked calmly. But the ice encasing the short sentence did little to hide the hot anger behind his words.

My exterior corrected itself automatically, clearing my throat before I spoke again.

"Sorry, Father. I was out, with the team-"

"Oh, I don't think you were with your little friends."

I flinched. He hadn't yelled at me. His tone was equivalent to his last short, blunt sentence. Yet the venom laced in it hurt worse than anything.

"Arthur, I don't even think you attended your own game on Friday."

He'd said my name too many times now. Collared shirt, suit pants, slackened tie; his somewhat casual appearance was overcome by his intimidating expression. Eyebrows knitted, lines etched unkindly over his face. He glared at me, slightly up since I was on the stairs already, but even so I didnt feel any taller. I was on edge, choosing each word carefully as not to set my father off. This was a slippery slope I'd carefully climbed before, but who knows what the end result what would be this time.

"I was with an acquaintance."

Aquaintance. Not friend. Not boyfriend, no love, no empathy towards the unknown person.

It almost hurt to refer to Merlin so vaguely.

"Who? _Who_ was so important that you missed your football game, abandoned your team and disappointed your father?"

I ignored the words said to put me off.

"I was studying. With my tutor."

The surprise written on his face was apparent, breaking the seemingly permenant creases of anger in his face for the first time.

"Are you being serious? Don't lie to me."

"When have I ever-"

"Who were you with? Answer the question."

"Remember the boy you assigned me to 'take care' of? Around the school, and all..."

"Emrys, yes..." Father turned away, giving me the time to let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "So he's tutoring you? In what?"

"Maths," I answered, "I thought it would be easier to get along with him that way."

"This is good." Uther's back, with his balding head and ironed shirt collar was what I could see. He stared at the creamish wall as if talking to it instead of me, muttering. "This is very good. Emrys."

"Father?"

"Yes." He turned back to me again, eyes brighter. Anything resembling anger had been wiped from his expression. If anything, excitement had taken its place. "Arthur, how close are you to Emrys, would you say?"

My heart jumped into my throat. My knees suddenly felt shaky, like they would betray me at any moment and give way.

_Did he know? How does he know?! What should I say, I don't-_

"Arthur?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Because you're my son, and I'm asking." The undertone of discontent appeared once again, testing. I tried to come up with something believable, borderline to the truth.

"We're not. Close, I mean. I just thought it would be easier to get along with him, you know, if he tutored me or something." I shrugged, playing off the question as best I could. "I'm not great at math, so I just thought...no, we're not close."

"That's unfortunate," my father sighed. An unexpected reaction; I was losing track of this conversation as each second passed.

"What do you mean?"

Uther was ignoring me again, eyes fixed on the ceiling, thinking.

I leaned against the banister, shifting my weight as I waited to be spoken to again.

"...Do you like him, then? The Emrys boy."

My heart jumped again, eyes snapping towards my father's.

"What?" My heart beat erratically for a moment.

"Of course not..." Uther answered for me, chuckling, humor just barely detectable. "He doesn't seem to be a likeable character, hm. So skinny...awkward. I'm surprised he's lasted this long as it is."

"N-" I bit my tongue. The rush if searing anger I experienced was unexpected... I felt the immediate, almost violent urge to defend the skinny, awkward, yet spunky idiot who'd taken my heart too quickly. I barely caught myself in time. "Sure." Was all I could manage.

"Right. Nevertheless, I want you to befriend him. I thought that seemed obvious enough when I assigned you to escort the boy."

My eyes widened at Uther's suggestion.

"Get to know him. Find out what he likes, invite him to parties..." he trailed off, a worrying glint behind his dull eyes.

"But wh-"

"Get close to Emrys, do you understand? Know that boy inside and out."

My head was spinning. Muddled with confusion, unsure what premediated response to reply with.

"Yes? But, Fa-"

"Don't get too attached," he cut me off without hesitation, continuing. "Not too close. Make sure to keep your boundaries in check. Don't get too attached to Emrys."

Too late for that. Months too late, in reality.

"Yes, Father." I managed to keep my voice steady, clear of any confusion I was feeling at the moment. "I understand."

"And Arthur, when you plan on leaving the house for days again..."

"Sir?" My head turned, hearing a tinny voice from behind me. "Mister Pendragon, you have a call waiting. I answered but he wants to talk to you directly." The maid, more of a secretary, addressed my father rather than me. She obviously had been waiting for a moment to interrupt; who knew how long she'd been standing there.

My father cleared his throat, refusing to acknowledge the lady and instead spoke to me again.

"Don't disappoint me, Arthur. Get close to Emrys." He clapped me on the shoulder as he passed, heading in the direction of his office. "I'm counting on you."

And he left me like that. Off to his office, to answer the unknown call on hold.

He just left.

The maid, her name I didn't recall, shot me a sympathetic glance before retreating after my father. I stared after her blankly, following her steps as she left. Trying to comprehend what had just happened. Only after a minute or two I realized I was still gripping the railing like a lifeline, knuckles white.

Through the confusion hazing my senses, I could only comprehend one thought.

_This is bad._

Still reeling at what my father had expressed, I dragged myself up the stairs I had meant to climb minutes before with happy skips to the top. Now it was more of a trudge, leaning on the banister under the weight of what had been said.

_There's something no one is telling me._

I reached the door to my room, all energy sapped from my body at that point. I could barely bring myself to turn the handle, push in; I motivated myself by remembering that as soon as I got inside, I could lay down on my bed. Have some privacy. Mull over what the fuck had just happened. The words were still playing themselves over in my head. And it continued as I shut the door behind me, groaned out loud in frustration, and threw myself down on my back to awaiting clean sheets.

Uther hadn't punished me. He hasn't reprimanded me, scolded me at all really, though I'm sure he'd had something planned. As soon as I had mentioned Merlin, however, any thought of yelling at me for being gone for three days had vanished.

Something was very wrong with this picture.

Thinking back, my father hadn't wxactly been welcoming to Merlin when he first arrived here. Rather cold towards him, really, and it still confused me why Merlin was even attending Camelot; it didn't seem to suit him. But now, father wanted me to...become friends with him. But not...become attached? There was something going on behind my back. Merlin Emrys was more than what he seemed to be, apparently. And my own father wanted to use me as a pawn. To take advantage of him, somehow, for some reason he probably would never tell me.

It was sick. I felt sick. Cheap.

And now, of all times...when I'd finally gotten the chance to make something out of my relationship with Merlin. I'd had hopes. Now my plans were going to be overshadowed by the constant call of my father...as if every action, feeling, conversation having to do with Merlin was tainted.

I resolved to myself that I would never go along with what my father had planned. He would never find out that Merlin and I were actually kind of together, because no doubt he would take advantage of it. I won't let that happen.

I wasn't going to play along with Uther's commands, that was for sure.

But I didn't know if I should keep the conversation a secret. From Merlin, in particular.

Just as I thought things were shaping up for the better, it was all going down a complicated route. And I couldn't find my way back to the wrong turn I'd made to get onto this bloody path in the first place.


End file.
